


I Accept Moshing as a Form of Endearment

by greeneyedsourwolf



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Abusive John Winchester, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Artist Castiel, Bisexual Dean, Bookworm Dean, Bottom Dean, Castiel Acts Like Endverse Castiel, Castiel is Not a Virgin, Drug Dealer Dean, Drug Dealer Gabriel, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Gay Castiel, Homophobic John, Jealous Dean, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, M/M, Marijuana, Nerd Dean, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Child Abuse, Punk Castiel, Smoking, Top Castiel, Top Castiel/Bottom Dean Winchester, Underage Drinking, Underage Smoking, castiel had a super religious family, castiel has a lot of brothers, castiel is a concerned boyfriend, charlie is a cockblock, future child abuse, john is an alcoholic, mostly - Freeform, naomi is castiel's mother, well he's kind of a nerd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-09-06 13:49:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8754469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greeneyedsourwolf/pseuds/greeneyedsourwolf
Summary: Being placed next to a snobby, young punk named Castiel Novak might just not be as bad as it seems for Dean Winchester. And after a series of unfortunate events spent with the kid, Dean just may have a crush.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, it's my first actual destiel fanfic and I hope you guys like it! Please leave feedback in the comments and kudos!

Dean turned to lock the door behind him, pushing the key in, turning it swiftly and then pulling the key out to shove it into his pocket. He turned back around to face Sam, who was smiling at his phone and looking down while typing into it.

 

“You talkin’ to that girlfriend of yours again, Sammy?” Dean asked with a grin.

 

Sam turned his head up and gave Dean an annoyed look, “Jess is not my girlfriend, Dean. We’re just friends. And yes, I am.”

 

He looked back down to finish his text. Dean just smiled, he knew that Sam had a major crush on this girl and he loved to make fun of him for it. He took a couple steps towards the sidewalk and Sam followed him, now looking up. They were on their way to the middle school, Sam was in seventh grade and though he swore up and down that he could walk himself there alone, Dean still walked with him everyday. Dean was in tenth grade but the high school was only about a half a mile from the middle school.

 

“So what’s going on today in school?” Dean asked, it was their normal routine to talk about what they had going on that day. Dean liked to be informed of his little brother’s life and what he was doing. Since a young age he had been like a second parent to Sam. He took care of him, fed him, helped him do his homework, since the death of their mother when he was four he did everything he could to help out their father.

 

“I have a presentation to do in health on leukemia that I’ve been working on with Balthazar and Michael. Balthazar hasn’t been doing anything but he’s funny so there’s at least that. But Michael's just an asshole-”

 

“Watch your mouth, Sammy.”

 

Sam chuckled slightly, “Yeah ok, Dean. I’ll watch my mouth when you watch yours. Anyways, Michael’s a dick but he did some of the work so I dealt with it. Health is my last period so I’m just gonna stress about it all day. I have a test in APA but I pretty good at all stuff so I’m not worried about it.” Dean smiled, he thought it was funny that Sam was worried about a small presentation but not a math test. Sam got all A’s all the time, he passed his tests with flying colors, but when it came to presentations and talking in front of classes, he was a nervous wreck, stuttering and choking on his words. “What about you? Got anything important going on today?” Sam asked.

 

“I got an ASL test, but I practiced so I should be good.” Dean replied, he was pretty good with sign language. He picked it up fast, and memorized it better than french or spanish. They headed down to the middle school and Dean dropped Sam off and wished him luck on his presentation. Dean took a left passed the middle school and walked to the high school. He didn’t particularly want to go to school today but he never wanted to go to school so it made sense.

 

Once he reached the school he went to go find Charlie, his best friend. She was standing in front of her locker, pulling out was looked to be a chemistry book. She had long, red hair that was pulled into a ponytail and bangs that almost covered her eyes. She looked to be wearing a blue Star Trek shirt that day that was accompanied with high-waisted black skinny jeans.

 

“Someone’s looking particularly good today.” Dean said, walking up to and leaning against the locker next to Charlie’s.

 

“Well I wasn’t trying to look good today, but thank you anyways.” She replied, smiling at the compliment. They had been friends since Dean had moved to Sioux Falls in the 7th grade. They were both total nerds when it came to Star Wars and Star Trek. Plus, Charlie had been nice to him when he first showed up at the middle school and he really appreciated that. The first day he switched over there everyone was either flirting with him or despising him for no apparent reason. But not Charlie, no, she just sparked a conversation with him during 5th period English and they’ve been good friends ever since.

 

“So what’s up?” Dean asked.

 

“Nothing much. Oh! Did you hear that Sebastian and Ruby broke up? If they’re breaking up then what is the luck for the rest of us? They were the perfect couple.” Charlie whined, they both had a lot of faith in the couple. Neither of them had ever talked with them outside of class time but they had shipped it from the start.

 

Dean sighed dramatically, “We’re doomed.”

 

Charlie looked down to her watch, “Ah shit it’s 7:42 and I gotta go the portables for Art,” Charlie grabbed her stuff, hauling her backpack over her shoulder “I gotta go, see you in chem.” She waved and headed down the hallway.

 

Dean walked to his locker, pulling out his Algebra 2 book and switching it for the book they were reading in English called Looking for Alaska. There had been a lot of debate on whether it was ok or not for the students to read, but they ended up just deciding to send a note home letting the parents allow or deny their kid reading the book and it ended at that. Dean’s dad, John, didn’t really care what they were reading so he just signed it allowing Dean to do so. Dean shoved the book in his bag and headed to his english class, walking up the stairs and down the hall. When he reached the class he walked up to his place and set his backpack on top of the desk. He unzipped the backpack and pulled out his binder, class book, and personal book. Other kids slowly filled the room, taking their seats and talking to each other loudly. By the time the bell rang Dean was sitting back in his seat reading _City of Ashes_.

 

“Alright you guys, settle down. Get out your books and essay layouts.” A tall boy walked up to Ms.Brown, a boy that Dean recognised. It was Castiel Novak. He combed his hand through his faded aqua blue hair and spoke to the teacher with confidence. It confused Dean as to why Castiel was here, considering he wasn’t in this class. But the explanation hit him in the face as he realized Ms.Brown was pointing to the empty seat next to him.

 

Dean was not happy by this. He absolutely loathed Castiel Novak. The facial piercings swayed every other person into liking him but Dean knew better than to submit to Novaks charming nature. Castiel acted cool and better than everyone else, ignoring people and making sly comments. Ever since the seventh grade Dean had done everything he could to stay away from him. He was trouble and Dean didn’t need that in his life.

 

Castiel smiled in his direction and walked smoothly towards him, pulling out the chair and sitting down. Up close Dean could kind of tell why people liked to look at him so much. Castiel’s eyes were ice blue, complimenting his hair beautifully. On either side of his lower lip was a black hoop and equal colored barbell in his left eyebrow. His hair was curly and pushed back just over his face. To fit the black jewelry, Castiel was wearing a dark gray hoodie with torn black pants and dark army-green combat boots. Castiel turned his head to look at Dean once he had sat down, grinning with satisfaction.

 

“Hello, Dean. How are you today?” He asked. Dean twitched at Castiel’s deep, gravely voice.

 

“I’m fine, Castiel.” Dean stated quickly, not changing his voice from the barely audible blunt tone he was at.

 

Castiel glanced down to the book Dean was gripping in his hands, “What are you reading?”

 

Dean didn’t want to answer the question, every time he had a book out someone was asking him about it. “It’s called _City of Ashes_ , it’s the second book in _The Mortal Instruments series_. It’s about shadowhunters.”

 

Castiel gathered that Dean was annoyed by his questions, so he continued his survey, “Is it good?”

 

“Very.” Dean replied sharply, putting the book down and opening his binder to pull out the necessary papers.

 

Castiel followed the action, pulling out his own papers. “I switched out of photography and into art and they had to rearrange my entire schedule to do it so now I’m here. I’m horrible with a camera so it was a necessary action. I used to be in 4th period English.” Castiel said, looking at Dean.

 

“How can you be horrible with a camera? It’s a camera.” Dean asked with an incredulous look.

 

“Honestly I have no idea, everyone else could take pictures and switch modes and all that crap, no problem but I just sucked at it. Plus, I signed up for art but I never got in so when they had an opening I took it.” Castiel shrugged and took out a pencil to begin writing. Dean nodded and continued to his work. “So, shadowhunters? What the hell is a shadowhunter?”

 

Dean rolled his eyes and looked up to Castiel, “Can I do my work in peace, please?” He asked, showing his lack of amusement in Castiel's presence.

 

“Hey remember when I sat next to you in english in seventh grade?” He asked, completely ignoring Dean’s request.

 

“Yes, I do. It was a tragic time period for me.” Dean replied, trying to focus on his essay. If he finished writing out his rough draft then he could read the rest of the period. At the beginning of this year, Dean had become ‘that kid’ that just reads every chance they get in class. He felt like spending his time reading was better than socializing with people.

 

“Oh, you know you love me.” Castiel smiled and combed his hand through his hair, exposing his multiple cartilage piercings. Dean shot him a bitch face that must have been pulled right out of Sammy’s book. His mind shot back to a particular meme that said, ‘I would sell you to Satan for one corn chip’, he looked at Castiel and thought _I really would sell you for one corn chip._ _Without hesitation._

 

“Please shut up.”

 

_______

Dean spent the rest of the class trying to ignore Castiel and do his work, eventually getting the chance to read again only to be interrupted by the question, _“No seriously, what is a shadowhunter?”_ The next couple of classes went by quickly, his ASL test was easy enough and he knew all of the signs.

 

He headed into psychology and took a seat at the table he was assigned in the back of the class. The bell rang and Dean pulled out his notebook in expectation of the teacher marking off their homework.

 

“Ok I’m going to move some people because they can’t shut up where their sitting. Henderson switch with Jones. Beckett switch with, uh, Miller. And Parker,” _Oh crap that’s Abby’s last name_ Dean thought, Abby was his partner. She was a senior but they got along well enough, Dean didn’t really know anyone at the table or in this class for that matter so it was nice that they worked well together. “switch with Novak.” This was a tenth and up class, which meant that juniors and seniors could be in the class as well. Castiel was in this class but shared it with his older senior brother, Gadreel.

 

“Which Novak?” A random student asked.

 

Dean was crossing his finger on the desk, “Oh please god” he begged for the elder Novak to be moved. He couldn’t be partners with Castiel in two classes, he would mentally collapse.

 

“Castiel.” Fuck Dean thought, he turned to look at Castiel, who had a smug grin and was wiggling his eyebrows at Dean while walking over.

 

“How lucky I am, Dean Winchester as my partner for now two classes.” Dean gave the teacher a pleading look that she didn’t catch.

 

“I’ll come around and mark all of you off for homework.” Mrs.Reed announced.

 

Dean pulled out his book, homework already out in front of him, and began reading.

 

He got about a full two minutes of silence before Castiel began talking to him, “Do you think I should get a nose piercing? I was thinking about it but I do have all this” he gestured to his face “already going on. You think it would be overkill?” Dean looked at Castiel briefly, noticing the way his eyebrows were drawn together completing quizzical look he was giving him.

 

He looked from piercing to piercing, coming to a conclusion, “You shouldn’t get the piercing.”

 

Castiel took the statement into consideration, “Yeah, you’re probably right.” he shrugged.

 

“Ok so chapter 13 has been focusing on test of intelligence and psychoanalysis so we’re going to do a project in class and then I’m going to partner you up and you’re going to do a survey out of class. First, we’re going to study some inkblots. I’m going to hand out some packets, you answer the questions it has. Blah, blah, you’re big kids, you can read the instructions.” Dean chuckled at his teacher's form of teaching.

 

They each got a packet, a different inkblot was on each page. Castiel flipped through the packet while Dean began on the first page. He looked down to the question _What do you see in the inkblot? Write your answer on the lines below._ He took a good look at the inkblot and wrote _Lion_ on the answer line and then flipped the page. _What do you feel is the relationship between the two figures in the inkblot?_ The question said, Dean looked at the inkblot, it was two symmetrical figures, each looked like a wolfish creature turned away from each other.

 

“They were best friends,” Castiel began in a dramatic voice “The best of friends. For years, they would have sleepovers every weekend, they hung out during and after school every day. But then a new student came to school. Her name was Rhonda, and she tore everything apart.”

 

Dean eyed him judgingly, “Rhonda?”

 

“Rhonda.” Castiel confirmed, “She favored one of the friends over the other. The friend started to have sleepovers with Rhonda, ignoring her other friend. And slowly, they began to drift away. This is a picture of a broken past friendship that was torn by harsh elements of jealously and neglect.”

 

Dean’s eyebrows were raised at Castiel’s dramatic story, “What the hell was that?” he asked, laughing.

 

“The question asked me what I saw.” Castiel said, repressing his own laugh to keep the theatrical atmosphere.

 

Dean turned back to his questions without another word and finished the packet in no time. He pulled out his book and read until the teacher announced their next assignment. Castiel had left Dean alone while he was reading, making conversation with the juniors across from them.

 

“I’m giving you until Thursday to complete this survey I’m giving you. It’s not hard so don’t whine at me. I’m giving you a set of questions and you have to record the answers to the questions from ten people. I don’t care who those people are, they can be on your football team, your siblings, your parents, it doesn’t matter. There is going to be a follow up project to these surveys so don’t lose them. The project is to be done outside of class so you and your partner will have to set up something to see each other out of class. You will be doing this with your table partner next to you.”

 

Dean visibly cringed at the last sentence, how could he be paired up with Castiel in not only two different classes on the same day, but then assigned a project that has to be worked on outside of class with him also? What did Dean do to deserve this?

 

“So,” Castiel could tell Dean didn’t like the arrangement but he loved to annoy the boy so he was happy about it “how are we going to do this? Your place? My place? We should interview my brothers, I have like, a ton of them.”

 

“Your place,” Dean didn’t like to bring anyone to his house. His father was a little, unpredictable. He had to travel for work all the time so he left Dean to manage the house when he was gone. But when John came back he spent his free time drinking himself into oblivion. When Sam and Dean’s mother died, John changed, for the worse. He never recovered from her death and expressed that through anger and alcoholism. And when they mixed…. well, Dean didn’t want anyone to be around for that. “we could interview your brothers there. I can’t today, does tomorrow work? After school?”

 

“Yeah, I’ll drive you to my place. Meet me at the front entrance right after school.” Castiel had a very smug face on, like he was enjoying the fact that Dean was coming over to his place. He probably was, Dean figured.

 

“Ok.” Dean agreed, shifting his attention back to his book.

 

The rest of the day went by smoothly, Dean did his work and read his book with little interruptions. When the final bell rang he grabbed his bag and headed outside to make his way to the middle school. In addition to walking him to school, Dean also walked him home from school.

 

______

 

“Sammy, what do you want for dinner?” Dean asked walking out of the kitchen and into the living room where Sam was working on math homework. “We got mac and cheese or spaghetti.”

 

“Spaghetti.” Sam answered, too focused in his work to say much more.

 

“Spaghetti it is, dad should be home on Thursday at least that’s what he told me.” Dean said, he had gotten a phone call from his father right after they got home from school.

 

Dean made dinner and he and Sammy ate at the table following their argument of _‘_ not needing to eat at the table when there were no adults around’ _Dad may not be here right now but we’re still gonna eat at the table, end of conversation._  Dean had said. Not that they ate at the table when their father was home, he had always grabbed some food and went to the couch to watch TV. But Dean made Sam sit at the table anyways.

 

They ate dinner and went to their rooms. Dean listened to music on his laptop and read some more. He thought about how he was going to deal with Castiel for so long and after school for christ sake. And with that thought he went, “Oh shit.” and ran into Sam’s room. Sam jumped from his place at his desk and turned around angrily when Dean ran in.

 

“What!?” He yelled.

 

“I have to go to someone’s house after school for a project in psychology so I won’t be coming to get you after school.” Dean said, he had forgotten to inform Sam of this earlier like he meant to.

 

“Ok, who’s house?” Sam asked.

 

Dean rolled his eyes, “Castiel-fucking-Novak’s.”

 

He said grumpily. Sam wiggled his eyebrows, “Oooooh, what are you gonna do with him?” he asked, hinting his inference of Dean’s feelings towards the boy.

 

“Oh god, Sam. I fucking hate the kid, gross.” Dean felt utter disgust at the idea of sleeping with Castiel or dating him or even kissing him for that matter.

 

“Sure you do.” Sam shot back with a grin.

 

Dean scowled, “Bitch.”

 

“Jerk.”

 


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean goes to Castiel's house and meets some of his brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, school has been kicking my ass and I never have time but please enjoy!

Dean opened his eyes slowly, looking over to the window only to immediately turn the other direction due to the bright light that was seeping in from the window to his right. He hated morning, the entire idea of mornings. Why was it necessary for school to start so damn early? What purpose does that serve? He shifted under the blankets to stick one hand out, fumbling it around his night stand until he got ahold of his phone. He brought it back towards him and clicked the power button. One hand covered his eyes, shielding it from the bright light that was coming from his screen. 5:49 A.M. it said. His alarm was set for 6:00 A.M. and Dean intended to take the extra ten minutes he had to bask in the heat of his bed. He tossed his phone back onto the nightstand and dug his face back into his blankets.

 

The ten minutes went way, way too fast. Before Dean knew it, his alarm was going off, AC/DC blaring through the room indicating that he had to get up. He sat up, blanket falling from his shoulders and stood up. With an uneasy step, Dean headed to the kitchen to make food for him and Sam.

 

Sam usually didn’t get up until 6:30 so Dean had a little time to drink coffee and make food in peace before he had to deal with people. He dumped out the coffee grounds from the day before and poured in new as well as filling the coffee machine up with water before pressing the start button. He went to go sit at the table, pulled out his phone and scroll through his feed on Instagram while he waited for the coffee to be done brewing. This was his routine, waking up, making coffee, chilling for a little bit and then making breakfast.

 

Sam woke up a half an hour later and sleepily sat down at the table.

 

“You got your house key in your backpack still?” Dean asked, wondering if he was going to have to give Sam a key to the house for after school today.

 

“Uh, yeah.” Sam replied.

 

“When you get home today I want you to call me.” 

 

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother’s protective nature, he was always being way too cautious and treating Sam like a child, which in Dean’s eyes, he was. But Sam new it was because he cared. Dean had been the one who was subjected to the worst of John’s PTSD and grieving and alcoholism. Dean didn’t grow up with a person caring enough to make him breakfast or walking him to and from school. He could understand why Dean acted this way, he didn’t want Sam to feel the same way he did.

 

“Ok, Dean.” Sam reluctantly agreed.

 

Dean placed a plate in front of Sam that consisted of eggs and toast. “Hurry up and eat, we gotta leave at 7.”

 

“Every morning, Dean. We leave at 7 every morning and I’m always ready, have some faith.”

 

Dean chuckled and headed back to his room to get ready. He picked out a black t-shirt with a yellow batman logo and a pair of dark gray jeans. He put them on and then walked to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Getting ready was a quick and easy task, Dean and Sam had formed a routine by now. They got out the door a couple minutes before seven and Dean walked Sam to school, reminding his younger brother to call him after school.

_______

 

The walk to the high school went by fast and the five minutes Dean had to talk to Charlie before school started went by even faster. Soon he was in his seat, book out as usual, waiting for everyone else to file into the classroom. Castiel showed up a minute after Dean and was apparently dead set on making the ability to read impossible for him.

 

With a loud sigh, Castiel ran his hand through his hair and asked, “How’s life Dean?” It wasn’t a sincere question, more like a I’m-trying-to-find-a-way-for-you-to-pay-attention-to-me question.

 

“What, you mean since last I’ve seen you, not even 24 hours ago?” Dean asked sarcastically.

 

“Yeah, how’s life?” Castiel asked, more perked up now that Dean had talked to him. Dean couldn’t tell if Castiel actually liked talking to him or he just thought that bugging him was fun, he guessed the latter. 

 

“I can’t complain.” He stated briefly, not looking up from his book.

 

“Hey you’re friends with Charlie, right?” This caught Dean’s attention and he looked up from his book.

 

“Yeah, what about her?” He asked.

 

“That girl, uh, Jo? Harvelle I think? Yeah I heard she has the hots for Charlie. Benny was talking to me about it, said she was going to ask Charlie out later.” Benny was Jo’s best friend, Castiel’s connection with the guy, Dean didn’t know. But what Dean did know was that Charlie had a titanic-sized crush on Jo. Dean gave Castiel a disbelieving look. “Hey, you don’t have to believe me,” Castiel leaned back in his chair “I guess we’ll see what happens later.”

 

As the morning went by all Dean could think about was what Castiel had said. Was Jo really into Charlie? I mean, he could believe it entirely. Throughout the past couple of months they had eyed each other more times than he could count, and Charlie had formed the crush just recently. He made a final decision of not telling Charlie about what Castiel said. He didn’t want Charlie to get hurt if Castiel was just being a tool.

 

When Dean went to psychology Castiel was just as annoying as he usually was. They talked more on personality tests and about the survey’s they had to take. The period was overall less horrible than yesterday, but that may have been because Castiel was annoying the juniors across the table more than him today. Now Dean was headed to lunch, peering over the crowds of people to find Charlie and the table they normally sat at.

 

Before he could reach the table he was pulled to the side by a someone, he looked over to see Jo.

 

“Hey, tell Charlie to meet me out near the pillars in like ten minutes.” She asked, eyes wide and staring at him.

 

“You’re going all elementary school on this, huh?” Dean asked with a smile.

 

“Oh fuck yeah, I’m going full blown pre-teen up in this shit.” Dean was taken aback by the answer, almost choking on his breath. “Cas told you I was going to ask her out didn’t he? You tell her?”

 

Dean shook his head, “I didn’t know if he was telling the truth or not.”

 

“Awesome, alright, I’ll see you later dean-o.”

 

Dean walked towards the table that him and Charlie always sat at. Ever since their first day of high-school they sat at that table, there was a trash can not far away from it so they could easily throw stuff away without having to get up and it was just far away enough from the music that they could hear what was playing but could easily ignore it if it was sucky music. I was the perfect table.

 

He couldn’t wipe the grin that he had on off his face, Charlie was gonna be asked out and it was going to be adorable. He couldn’t wait to hear the squeal that would come out of Charlie’s mouth or the giant smile she would have when he told her that Jo was waiting for her. The second-hand excitement was real.

 

“What’s got you all cheerful?” Charlie asked, biting into a cherry poptart before hopping over a seat to let Dean sit.

 

Dean waited for her to take another bite and begin chewing before he said, “Jo want’s to see you by the pillars in about ten minutes,” in an obnoxious tone.

 

Charlie practically choked on her food before demanding, “What?!”

 

Dean only nodded. Charlie was taken aback, her mouth agape and pop tart almost falling out of it, “Dean Michael Winchester you better be telling the truth ‘cause if you’re not I’ll cut your damn heart out.”

 

Dean raised his hands back submissively, “No joke Charlie.”

“What does this mean?!” She wondered out loud, also trying to frantically finish her food. Charlie had her book out in front of her, papers amongst it and sprawled out across the table as if she was about to get some studying done, “Screw chem,” she said before opening her bag and haphazardly shoving everything in. 

 

Dean was watching with amusement, this was without a doubt the best part of his day so far.

 

_______

 

Dean had walked with Charlie to the pillars, only lagging behind when they had seen where Jo was standing. She had Benny behind her a few feet back, a gigantic cheesy smile on her face as she noticed Charlie’s presence. It was cute. No scratch that, it was fucking adorable. Dean couldn’t tell what was being said but from the expression on Charlie’s face, Jo had successfully asked her out. 

 

A few minutes into the girls talking to each other excitedly, Dean headed back into the building to grab something from the vending machine, he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast and as a teenage boy, he was hungry as fuck. 

 

Castiel had passed him as he was pressing down buttons to get a Hostess fruit pie and winked at him. The boy’s eyes were daunting to Dean, crystal blue as they sparkled in the shining light of the open ceiling, complimenting his now wash-faded sky blue hair. He couldn’t help but feel vulnerable as Castiel stared at him calmly. The look was brief but Dean had felt it lasted forever, the eye contact making it hard for Dean to think clearly.

 

With a grunt from the person behind him, Dean pulled himself back to reality, grabbing the pie from the machine slot and quickly stumbling back outside. Mentally trying to pull himself back together he whispered, “Get a grip, Winchester.” before looking up to see that Charlie and Jo had not moved places.

 

Benny walked up to tell Jo something and for the intermission Charlie looked around to lock eyes with Dean and grinning widely.  _ She’s adorable and we’re going to dinner tomorrow _ she signed to him from across the way.

 

For a split second Dean was worried that someone around them might have caught that, they didn’t want any unwanted drama and that was a good way to start it. But then he remembered that only freshman hung out outside and he eased a little, even if they were ASL it was only their first year so they don’t know much yet.

 

_ I’m happy for you _ he signed back right before the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch. Dean picked up his backpack and shoved it over his shoulder quickly as he began to pass people to walk to his next class.

_______

 

As promised, Dean met Castiel at the front entrance of the school after the last bell rang. He motioned for Dean to follow him out to the parking lot as he pulled a lanyard with keys attached to it. Dean found this very interesting, not that he had a lanyard connected to his key, but that said lanyard was bright  _ rainbow _ colored. This was not something that Dean had expected, Castiel did not seem like a rainbow type of person. 

 

And Castiel must have noticed his wonder because he began talking, oh joy, “You like it?” he asked, holding up the lanyard, keys jingling in the process.

 

Dean huffed out a laugh and continued to follow Castiel to his car. He stopped abruptly in front of a black Camaro, “You would probably be much more comfortable if you put your backpack in the backseat” he said as he fished through his keys to pull out the right one.

 

Dean had a confused look on his face, “Thi-This is  _ yours _ ?” he spat out incredulously.

 

Castiel looked up and smiled, “Yes, Dean.” he confirmed as he pushed the key in the lock, turning to unlock the door and then pulling it open to push the unlock button on the other door. “Here, give me your stuff.”

 

Dean mumbled something along the lines of “Christ almighty” but handed over his bag nonetheless. The car was a two door, so Castiel kind of carelessly shoved both of their bags in the backseat.

 

“Ezekiel gave it to me, as a birthday present. It was his old car.” Castiel said as he climbed into the car, Dean following the action with a slight scowl.

 

“Who’s Ezekiel?” Dean asked, “And this is a 2014 model, why would he need a new car after two years?”

 

“Because my brother is spoiled.” Castiel smiled, “Wait'll you see the house.”

 

Dean shrugged at the comment, not understanding exactly what Castiel meant by it. He grabbed his phone, checking to see if Sam had called or texted.

_______

 

A mansion. A motherfucking  _ mansion. _ Four garage doors and all, Castiel’s house was the most expensive looking thing Dean had ever seen in his life, he felt unworthy just looking at it. It was modern, tiled on the outside with this calming ash-gray that complemented the soft white borders around the windows. Dean walked slowly up the cemented walkway to the door, following Castiel to a large mahogany door. Castiel pulled out his keys once more, fumbling with the lock before pushing it open and pulling to the side to let Dean in.

 

From the outside, the house was beautiful. It looked brand new, like no one had ever stepped a foot on the property. The grass was cut to extreme accuracy, and the hedge were trimmed. No doubt they must have had someone do it for them. The walkway to the door was virtually spotless, no dirt on it, no grass, nothing. From any person passing by it would look like they had just pulled out the for sale sign. But from the inside, you could understand that people lived here. There was signs of life.. In the form of screaming.

 

“Get off of me Balth, you asshole. I didn’t steal your damn blanket.” A preteen-aged looking kid shouted as a slightly younger looking blond kid pinned him up against the wall.

 

“Bullshit, Michael. I bet I could go look in your room right now and it would be in there!” The younger looking kid shot back, neither of them realizing that Castiel and Dean had entered the large living room.

 

Another person walked into the room, Dean had recognized him as Gadreel from psychology. He faced the boys with a scowl, and with an extreme parenting voice he ordered, “Hey! Watch the language!”

 

Dean smirked, remembering what he had said to Sam just yesterday about swearing. Castiel took a few steps forward with a frown, “Yeah, we don’t talk like that in this goddamn motherfucking house!” he yelled from across the room. Dean could hear the sarcasm in his voice, mocking his older brother’s words. He tried his best to repress a laugh.

 

Gadreel wiped one hand down his face in defeat, “Must you encourage them to be annoying little shitheads like you like you, Castiel?”

 

“Absolutely.” Castiel turned his attention towards the fighting kids. “So, why does Balth have you in a headlock?” he asked the dark-haired kid.

 

“He stole my blanket. MY BLANKET, CAS!”

 

“I did not!”

 

“Why is this blanket so important?” Castiel asked, glancing over his shoulder to look at Dean briefly.

 

“This isn’t just a blanket, Cas.” The kid said seriously, “This is the softest, warmest, biggest blanket you will ever find in your entire life.” Castiel had a stern look on his face, like he genuinely thought this was a problem. “It’s a Batman blanket! Batman!”

 

“Oh for Christ’s sa-” Gadreel started.

 

Castiel held up one hand to stop him, “No, this is serious.”

By this point Dean was doing everything he possibly could not to laugh. But it was hard, very hard. Though Dean could sympathize with the Batman part of it, the thought that Castiel was actually concerned about the dilemma was downright the funniest shit Dean had witnessed all day.

 

Castiel walked up the the boys, grabbing the younger one by the collar and pulling him back to release the other. “Did you take the blanket.” It wasn’t a question, it was more of a demand. He stared at the boy intensly. 

 

“I-I wouldn’t classify it as stealing. More like, Balthazar left it in my room and I didn’t bother to give it back because it was so soft that I touched it and basically passed out because of it’s awesomeness.”

 

Castiel laughed loudly, “You need to give back the blanket but first, I need to see it because I have to know what you guys are talking about.” Michael nodded swiftly, ducking behind Castiel to avoid Balthazar.

 

“Shut up Balthazar, if this blanket is as good as you guys say it is, I would steal it too.” Castiel said in response to Balthazar’s name-calling. And for some reason, Dean thought that was completely adorable, standing up for his brother like that. It was something Dean would probably do if someone was calling Sam names and Castiel doing the same was cute, this thinking caused a quick  _ Shit Dean no, that’s gross  _ in self-realization that he just called his enemy cute. Castiel followed Michael to his room. Dean walked with them, not sure what he was supposed to do.

 

“Hey are you the kid’s working on that health project with my brother?” Dean asked, trying to make himself less uncomfortable in the brother-packed hallway. 

 

“Sam?” Michael asked, turning around for a moment to make eye-contact with Dean.

 

“Yeah.” Dean confirmed.

 

“Oh man, that kid is the only reason I’m passing that class.” Balthazar spoke up, grinning as he walked beside Castiel.

 

“Wait here. You don’t want to see the shit-show that is my room, trust me.” Michael stated, making the other three laugh.

 

“It’s true, I was in there yesterday. Oh my god.” Balthazar said as he leaned against the doorway.

 

“Like yours is any better.” Castiel shot back sarcastically.

 

“Oh yeah mines horrible, worse than his. If I ever decide to clean my room, and I die, which I probably will, you can have my cat.”

 

“Luciano’s basically my cat anyways, he loves me.” Castiel said, feeling pretty excited about being promised his brother’s cat.

 

“Luciano?” Dean wondered.

 

“Last name of the guy that basically fathered organized crime in America. Charles Luciano.” Balthazar clarified.

 

Dean gave a weird look but didn’t ask any more questions as Michael entered the hallway with a dark blanket in his arms. He held it up and Castiel put out one hand on, grabbing it softly.

 

Castiel looked down at the blanket and then up to make eye contact with Balthazar, “Holy fucking shit dude. Where did you get this and do they have more?”

 

“Target, dude.” He replied, a satisfied smile on his face.

 

“I should have known, only Target would have something as great as this.” Dean smiled at the conversation. At school, Castiel was all flirtatious and mysterious to everyone, but at home with his brothers he seemed to be just another kid. They were only sixteen after all. Dean was pulled out of his thought by a loud comment behind him.

 

“Cas, your obsession with Target is weird and concerning.” Dean turned around suddenly to find a short man walking up to them. Hazel eyes switched from Dean to Castiel but before he could say anything Castiel cut him off.

 

“Target is the only pure place on earth and I will stand by that statement until the bitter end.” He defended.

 

And with this sentence, Dean couldn’t help but laugh. And with Dean’s laugh came everyone else’s. Dean phone went off suddenly and he dug around in his pocket to pull it out. The caller ID said SAMMY and he pressed the accept button.

 

_ “Hey sorry I meant to call you earlier but I forgot my phone at the school and then I had to go back and then I saw Jess so I was talking to her for a couple minutes an-” _

 

“Dude it’s fine, I wasn’t going to start getting worried, it’s only been like a half and hour since your school got out” Dean replied, stepping back from the group of people.

 

_ “Can Jess come over? She lives like down the street from us.” _

 

“Dad said he was probably coming back tomorrow but he’s not sure. I he comes home and sees that I’ve left you alone  _ and _ you’re with a girl, he’ll kill me.”

 

_ “So if he was gone then you would say yes?” _

 

“One of these days when dad’s gone and there’s no chance of him randomly showing up, I’ll let you bring her over. I ain’t gonna cockblock you.”

 

_ “Gross, Dean!” _

 

“Yeah, yeah, I gotta go do this pysch crap, I’ll text you when I’m on my way back. Bye.”

 

_ “Bye, Jerk.” _

 

“Bitch.” With the final word Dean pressed the end call button and walked back over to the group of brothers.

 

“Come on, onward to my room where it actually is clean.” Castiel said, pushing Balthazar out of his way as he lifted from the wall he was leaning on.

 

The journey up to Castiel’s room was long and had a lot of stairs involved. While you could tell people lived there from the noise and backpacks scattered across the floor downstairs, the upstairs was quiet and calm. Dean could hear Castiel’s bare feet padding alongside his own boots that clacked against the wood floor. 

 

“So now you’ve met some of my brothers,” Castiel broke the silence “Balthazar, Michael, Ezekiel, that other guy down there talking about my obsession with Target is Gabriel, he’s my favorite.” 

 

“I don’t think you’re supposed to have favorite siblings,” Dean said “and who’s Ezekiel? I didn’t meet an Ezekiel, I saw Gadreel down there but I already knew him from psych.”

 

Castiel gave a small chuckle, “That wasn’t Gadreel, that was Ezekiel. They’re twins.”

 

“So how many brothers do you have?” Dean asked, when Castiel said he had a ton of brothers Dean expected maybe four or five.

 

“Nine.” Dean’s eyes widened, “There’s Samandriel, Michael, Balthazar, me, Gabriel, Gadreel, Ezekiel, Uriel, and Lucifer. Though neither Uriel nor Lucifer live here anymore. Michael skipped a grade so now him and Balthazar are in the same grade, though he looks older than Balth which is kind of confusing.”

 

“Wait you have a brother named  _ Lucifer _ ?” Dean asked incredulously. What kind of parents name their child Lucifer?

 

Castiel grinned, “Yeah, he’s an asshole too so the name fits well.”

 

Dean tried to refrain from asking another question, it might sound like he was actually interested in Castiel’s life, but he couldn’t, “What’s with the names?”

 

“Ah, my parent’s-or more importantly my mother-is very religious.” He took a sharp breath, “Like,  _ very _ religious, so she decided it was a good idea to name all of her children different angels. Starting with Lucifer apparently.”

 

They reached a dark-gray door with white swirly design on the back. Castiel opened it quickly walked inside, Dean following behind. The room was big and organized, a large bed in middle with a fluffy white blanket across it, a nightstand either side, each clear of everything but an alarm clock on one side. There was a large bookshelf in the corner, stocked full of books and what looked to be vinyls at the bottom. Alongside the bookshelf was a black desk, and beside that was an office sized trash can. But what was interesting about the room was not the fact that it was impeccably neat, no. What was interesting was the walls. The walls were lined with posters of different punk-rock bands and under that you could see a painted on design. The posters were spread out, making the designs visible between each poster. They were light gray and design was white and black and Dean thought it may have been the coolest thing he had ever seen.

 

“So how many siblings do you have, Dean?” Castiel asked as he set his backpack on the bed in front of him. “There’s seven of mine that are here and we can interview right now. Well, Gadreel might be gone but we’ll see.”

 

“Uh, it’s just Sam and me.” Dean said awkwardly.

 

“We’ll have to interview a couple people at school to finish up the project but we can interview your brother when I drop you off.”

 

“Yeah, sure, cool.” Dean said as he dug into his backpack to grab his notebook and assignment papers.

_______

 

Interviewing Castiel’s brothers was easy and they had gotten it done in less than a half an hour, Dean’s favorite part was probably Gabriel trying his best to come up with the most ridiculous answers as he possibly could. 

 

_ “Gabriel it’s a yes or no question” _

 

_ “I’m choosing to use my fifth amendment right.” _

 

_ “What? Gabriel, that doesn’t even make any sense, I’m asking you if you own a phone or not.” _

 

It was one hell of an interview. Soon they went back to Castiel’s room to put together their and discuss some other steps they were given for the assignment.

“So,” Castiel started, looking down and fiddling with his pen, “why do you hate me so much?” he asked playfully.

 

Dean smirked, “I don’t hate you,” Castiel raised his eyebrows in disbelief, “ok, maybe I hate you a little bit.”

 

“A little bit?”

 

Dean sat up and let out a sigh, “Ok so do you remember when you were placed next to me in math in 7th grade? And we had that godawful teacher Mrs.Price?” Castiel nodded. “And that insane final at the end of the semester?”

 

Castiel nodded again, now realizing what Dean was talking about, “You mean when I wouldn’t shut up and got both of our tests taken away? You hate me because you got a zero on some test?”

 

“It was worth 40% of our grade!” Dean shot back, “I ended the semester with a D- in pre-algebra, my father was pissed!”

 

Castiel rolled his eyes, “I’m sorry, alright? I was a being a dick.”

 

Dean huffed out an exasperated ‘Thank you’ and slouched back a bit. He could still remember his father’s reaction to seeing a D+ on his report card,  _ “A D+ kid? I work my ass off to provide for you and Sammy and you pay me back with this? What’s the matter with you?”  _ He had tried to reason with his father, tried to tell him what had happened and that it wasn’t his fault but all he had got back was,  _ “Take blame for your actions, boy. Don’t blame other people for your fuck-ups.” _ or a variation of the sentence. He could remember his father’s refusal to say his name, it happened when John got mad at Dean. Instead of saying his name he just said  _ kid  _ or  _ boy _ . He only thanked god for the fact that his father wasn’t drunk. God knows what would have happened if he was drunk enough.

 

But before he could venture into the thought his phone started to vibrate. He took it out and pressed the answer button when he saw that it was Sam.

 

“ _ Dean!” _

 

“Woah, Sammy what’s up?”

 

_ “Dad’s home-” _

 

“Shit he wasn’t supposed to be home until tomorrow. God wh-”

 

_ “No, Dean. Dad’s home and he’s drunk. Like really, really drunk, Dean.” _

“Are you in your room?” Dean asked quietly, trying to leave Castiel from the conversation.

 

_ “Yeah, I told him I had homework to do. Dean, I don’t know what to do he’s pissed about something. I don’t know if he's realized you’re gone yet.” _

 

Dean got up suddenly, turning around to grab his bag and haphazardly shove his stuff in it. “I’ll be there in a little bit, he’s not going to bother you but if he asks you where I am tell him I went to work on a school project and I’ll be back in a minute.”

 

_ “Ok.” _ Dean could hear his brother take a deep breath. It was normal for their to be drunk, mad too, but Dean had always been there to deal with it.

 

“I’ll see you in a couple minutes.” Dean pressed the end call button and looked over to Castiel, “We gotta go.”

 

And Castiel, the poor kid, looked frazzled as hell. He stared at Dean with an expectant look, like he was waiting for Dean to explain what was going on, “Okay? Are-is Sam okay?”

  
“Uh, yeah. Yeah, he’s fine I just need to get home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For everyone that isn't American, the fifth amendment protects people from being compelled to be a witness against themselves which is a crappy explanation, I know, I'm sorry. Again, I'm sorry it took so long to get out, I just haven't had time to write at all recently. Fun fact: The blanket part was an idea from drunk me and I just decided to put it in cuz why not. Please comment and leave kudos! I'd be happy to accept ideas from you guys, I don't really have a plan for this story just a few things so if you have a good idea tell me about it! All mistakes are my own and I will get around to editing one of these days. Thank you so much for reading!


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John comes home and it goes badly, we learn a little about Gabriel's past, and Castiel finds his dream blanket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Child Abuse

Worried would be the understatement of the century to define how Dean was feeling right now. He was always there, always with Sammy when their father came home. He was always the one to deal with their hammered father. And that was why, even though John had never once hit Sammy, Dean was still worried as hell.

 

He blamed the alcohol, he blamed the PTSD, he blamed their mother's death, and everything else that had gone wrong in their life, but really, Dean knew. He knew he couldn’t really blame all those factors for the cuts and bruises he’s received in his life. He couldn’t blame them for all of the lashes he’s received at the end of a belt, or the hurtful words his father told him as he dealt them. Though he tried to kid himself with who’s fault it actually was, deep down he knew. He knew it was all John. Nothing could excuse the way he treated his children.

 

But despite this, Dean continued to blame the PTSD, his mother's death, and anything else he could because dealing with the fact that his father had no seen reason to be beating him would wound him greater than any belt ever could.

 

“...Dean?” Dean was brought out of his thought by the worried look Castiel was giving him.

 

“What?” He looked over to Castiel. He was nervously tapping on the steering wheel, and staring straight ahead at the road in front of head, eyebrows furrowed and scrunched frown present.

 

“What street do you live on?”

 

“Oh, um 7th.”

 

Castiel opened his mouth several times to talk before he actually did, “...What exactly, um, is happening? Why are you so worried?”

 

Dean wiped one hand down his face and shifted slightly in his seat, “Don’t worry about it. I just have to deal with something.”

 

“Is that something your father?” The question wasn’t demanded or passive aggressive, it was honest, genuine. Through his gruff voice, Dean could hear actual concern in Castiel’s question.

 

Dean ignored the question and started to ask his own, “So how the hell does your parents have enough money to support nine boys?”

 

Castiel’s concerned looked didn’t fade but he huffed out a laugh nonetheless, “They’re just a bunch of assholes working for even bigger assholes. My father is god know’s where, I haven’t seen him in years. My mother remarried to this douchebag named Zachariah, probably because he’s loaded. They work together.” He took a turn onto Dean’s street. “You’re gonna have to point out your house to me.”

 

Dean shifted uncomfortably, “There’s gonna be an Impala in the driveway.”

 

Castiel nodded and continued down the road.They reached the small house in no time, Dean pointing it out and Castiel noticing the sleek, black Impala parked in front of the house. Dean kept looking down and checking his phone obsessively, looking for an update from Sam. They parked behind the Impala and Dean unbuckled, reaching for the door. Before he could get out Castiel grabbed his hand and pulled the cap off of a Sharpie with his teeth. He wrote a line of numbers across the back of Dean’s hand.

 

“Text me if you need anything,” Dean stared at him nervously, “with the project, I mean.”

 

Dean nodded and climbed out of the car, slamming the door shut behind him and making his way up to his house.

 

\-------

Castiel wasn’t stupid. He understood what was happening currently, maybe a little confused about the details, but he knew enough to figure out two things. One, John Winchester was most definitely beating one, if not, both of his children. And two, there was no way in hell he was leaving the premises until he knew for sure Dean was going to be okay.

 

John Winchester was known for being an alcoholic, and an angry one at that. No one said anything about it, the man was from military background for christ sake, no one dared to say a thing. Apparently the roughhousing was not just in the bar, but brought home to his children. Castiel didn’t really know what to do with this information. Should he tell someone, and risk Dean and Sam being put through the foster system. Or keep it to himself, and have the weight of Dean and Sam’s abuse be put on his shoulders?

 

Maybe he should talk to Charlie? She was Dean’s best friend after all, and if someone knew what was best for him it would probably be her. Castiel awaited a text from Dean, anything. He could see through the, what seemed to be, living room window. Dean came into sight a minute later and from what he could see, the teen seemed to be angry, maybe even distressed. John walked up to him, looking even more pissed off than Dean, and then came a fist right to Dean’s jaw.

 

“Oh, fuck.” Castiel unbuckled quickly.

 

\-------

 

Dean hesitantly opened the front door of his house, trying to make the least sound possible in case John hadn’t noticed his absence or he had fallen asleep. He walked upstairs to the kitchen and looked around.

 

“Oh, don’t you fucking think you can just sneak back inside after leaving Sammy here all alone.” Came a rough, slurred voice.

 

Dean cursed under his breath and turned around. “I had to do a project with someone at their house. I had to interview his brothers.”

 

“I don’t give a fuck what you were doing. You left Sammy alone. You have one job, kid. Watch out for Sammy. I give you one thing to do. Why is it that you aren’t listening to my orders? Huh, boy?” He spat the word as if it were a curse.

 

“He’s almost 13-years-old! He can be by himself for a couple hours, it’s not even five yet. I came home well before I would start making dinner. It’s not like I left him for days on end with no food or money. Does that sound familiar to you, dad?” Dean retorted, fists clenching from his anger.

 

The last sentence had John seething, enough so that he threw a punch straight at Dean’s stomach-“Don’t you dare put this on me. You’re the one that fucked up, kid. And to think I came home early to spend time with you and Sammy. Always tellin me i’m not home enough. Both of you are a bunch of piece of shit sons. You should have some fucking respect for your old man.”-another blow to the stomach-”With everything I do for you?”

 

“You can say what you want about me, but don't you dare talk about Sam like that. He has been nothing but good to you” Dean huffed out, the punch leaving him breathless and his voice rough.

 

John got another few punches in, and at some point Dean tried to get away, leading the fight into the living room. They stood there looking at each other, the right side of Dean’s face was bleeding and managed to continue looking pissed through his grimace, but his words did not match his facial expression and at some point during the abuse, he gave up.

 

“I’m sorry, okay? I won’t do it again. I’ll bring him with me next time.” he managed to get out.

 

But John wasn’t backing down, and Dean was given yet another blow to the face and he fell to the floor with the power of it.

 

“Dad! Stop, Please!” They heard from a voice behind them. It was Sammy, he had come out of the room from the commission. In all the years Sam had witnessed his father beating on Dean in some way or another, he had never seen John get so angry over something so little.

 

He ignored Sam’s pleas and kicked Dean in the face, who was currently on the floor, and looking down at the blood spattered on the white carpet.

 

“Get t-the f-fuck out of here Sammy.” Dean demanded, barely managing to make words. His face felt like it was on fire, and he was suprised that he hadn’t passed out yet. “Sam, g-go to yo-”

 

The doorbell rang.

 

“Sam, go on and get that will ya?” John asked.

 

“No, Sam-” Another kick to the stomach.

 

“Shut the fuck up, Dean.” he slurred.

 

Sam darted to the door, and cautiously opened it.

 

“Hi, do you think you can get your brother for me, he forgot his jacket in my car and I wanted to ask him a question.” Castiel asked, standing nervously at the door.

 

Sam eyes darted to Dean, who had, by some miracle, managed to get up. Dean shook his head, grimacing at the movement. He looked back to Castiel, “I um, I-he doesn’t-um he”.

 

“You, okay?” Castiel asked with concern.

 

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine, Dean-he’s just,” Sam took a deep breath, “He can’t come to the door right now, he’s busy.”

 

John was too busy being drunk and angry to even begin to care about the fact that there was someone standing at the doorway, “I was offered a three week job in California, and I was going to decline and stay here but since you decided to have that little outbreak I think I’ll go ahead and take it.” he grabbed his stuff from the couch and began to walk to the door.

 

“Dad,” Dean started, knowing that it might be earning him another punch or two, “don’t drive, you’re drunk, just wait until the morning.”

 

“Fuck off.” and with that, John picked up his keys and shoved past Castiel to get out to his car.

 

Sam ran back up the stairs to Dean, “Are you okay? Do you need bandages or like, an EMT?”

 

“I can take care of myself, Sammy.” Dean pulled his phone out, “Go get your stuff together.”

 

“What, why?” Sam asked.

 

“You know why, and it wasn’t a question. Go.” He pulled up his contacts list.

 

“Are you coming with?”

 

“No.”

 

Sam walked to his room, dragging his feet a little on the way there. He hates it when Dean bosses him around. He knows that technically Dean is like his parent and he should listen to him, but it still bothers him when Dean tells him what to do.

 

Hesitantly, Castiel walked up the stairs to where Dean was standing. He hadn’t gotten a very good look at him from the window, and couldn’t see him from the doorway. But he could see him clearly now, and it almost made him sick. Dean’s face was cut all over, blood smeared and splattered down to his shirt, and his right eye especially was bruised black and blue.

 

Dean gave him an uneasy look, “Why are you here?”

 

“Has he been doing this long? Abusing you?” Castiel asked quietly.

 

Dean laughed, “What? This wasn’t my dad, no. I-um I fell down the stairs right after you left, and he was yelling at me for something else. Totally unrelated, but a fucked up my face pretty good, didn’t I?”

 

“Dean don’t lie to me. I saw him punch you through the window.”

 

“Fuck.” Dean sighed, his entire body was throbbing, no doubt his nose was broken from the kick, “Can you just go please? I have shit I need to do, okay?”

 

“I’m not going to leave.” Castiel said firmly.

 

Dean ignored his comment and focused on his phone, he clicked a number and put the phone up to his head.

 

“I already told you that I can’t give you more hours of work at the shop, those child labor laws are going to catch up to me one of these days.”

 

“I’m not calling about that, Bobby.” he said, trying not to sound as bad as he felt, “Can you take Sammy for a little while? Maybe like a week?”

 

“Sure no problem, kid? Why?”

 

“I’m going to be working a lot for the next week with the shop and the grocery store so I’m not going to be home much so I figured you guys might want to hang out with him. Ellen can teach him how to make that pecan pie she always has out at the Roadhouse or something.” What he said wasn’t necessarily a lie, he will be working a lot this week. But really, he just needed a break from dealing with shit. He needed some time alone.

 

“You’re father’s due to come home sometime tomorrow isn’t he?”

 

Dean looked down to where the blood has stained his shirt, “He uh, he already came home. He just left again.”

 

“I’ll be there to get him in ten.” Bobby hung up, and Dean took the phone down from his ear.

 

“Do you want me to help you bandage your face, or like take you to the hospital. You might have a concussion, and I think your nose it broken. You're still bl-” Dean pushed past Castiel and opened the door. He barely made it to the yard before he started puking, hunched over and falling to his knees on the soft grass.

 

“Fuck, Dean!” Castiel hurried over to him, “Dude are you okay?”

 

Dean continued to heave, making his entire body radiate with pain. He knelt there for a minute, willing himself to get up.

 

“You totally have a concussion. You have to go to the hospital.” Castiel was, well, freaking out.

 

“You don’t do well under pressure, do you?” Dean said, his voice scratchy from puking.

 

Castiel glared at him, “It would be rather shitty if you died today, considering we have a psychology project to work together on.”

 

Dean chuckled, wincing as he did so, and headed back inside. Sam was standing at the edge of the stairs, worried look across his face and a suitcase in hand.

 

“How long are you shipping me off for?” He asked dramatically.

 

“Maybe a week? You’re not gonna want to be here anyways, I’m not going to be home most of the week and I don’t want you to have to be here all alone.” Dean said, leaning against the open door, “And I want you to learn how to make pie from Ellen, if you come home without so much as a recipe you will have to face my wrath.”

 

They walked outside and waited for Bobby to show up. Castiel stood way too close to Dean, and kept looking at him like he was going to hug him or something which made Dean feel really weird but not necessarily uncomfortable.

 

Once Bobby did show up though, he stormed up to Dean and yelled at him for not fighting back.

 

“What do you mean you didn’t punch him?! He does shit like this to you, then you have the right to beat that poor son-of-a-bitch!”

 

“He’s my dad, Bobby. I can’t just punch him.” Dean replied.

 

“This here your boyfriend or something?” Bobby turned his attention to Castiel.

 

Dean stiffened and Sam stifled a laugh, “Um, no, I-um I’m just Castiel.”

 

“They’re totally boyfriends, they hung out today at his house.” Sam said, smirking at his statement.

 

“Shut it, you little bitch. He dropped me off after we had to work on a psych project.” Dean quickly added.

 

“Jerk,” Sam mumbled as he shoved his stuff in the back of Bobby’s car.

 

“Uh huh, okay then. I’ll come drop him off next Friday, that good?” Bobby asked.

 

“Yeah that’s great Bobby, thank you.”

 

\-------

“Hospital.” Castiel stated simply.

 

“I’m not gonna go to the fucking hospital, okay? I can do my stitches in the bathroom, and I got some Vicodin in my room.”

 

“You can do stitches?” Castiel asked.

 

“Yeah, my dad taught me how when I was like seven. He used to come home from bar fights all the time and he got tired of fixing up his face himself. Anyways, you can go now.” Dean waved him away.

 

“I have a better idea. You pack new clothes, and a toothbrush, and possibly that Vicodin you were talking about, and I drive you back to my house where we have our very own multi-talented Gabriel, who can actually tell if you have a concussion or not. And help fix your noses.”

 

Dean tried to think of any arguments to Castiel's offer, “Stop thinking about it and go pack, dude.”

 

\-------

“What the fuck happened to your face, dude?” asked Michael.

 

“Oh fucking awesome! Did you get into a fight?” demanded Balthazar. “At like a bar or something and like pissed some-”

 

“Are you gonna die? You look like you’re gonna die.” Michael added.

 

“Calm yourselves you two, he’s not gonna die, and it’s none of your fucking business. Where’s Gabriel?” Castiel asked.

 

“He’s hanging out with that one chick from the volleyball team. Ya know, the blonde one that’s over here sometimes?” Balthazar said, “Anyways I walked in there a minutes ago to ask him a question and there wasn’t much going on so you’re probably safe to go in there.”

 

“Thanks Balth. To his room we go.” Castiel lead the way down the hall.

 

They stopped before a black door, and Cas knocked on the door loudly, “Gabriel! Wipe your dick off and get out here! You’re gonna enjoy this!”

 

They heard a couple thuds and a hold your fucking horses before the door was opened.

 

“At least you guys have the decency to fuckin knock, Balthazar just walked in here like it was his own goddamn room and asked me if I had a vanilla scented candle. I don’t really want to know why but-oh holy fucking hell what happened to the poor twink’s face?!”

 

“Not a twink, and none of your business.” Dean stated roughly.

 

“You wanna get out here and play doctor? I think he’s got a concussion.” Castiel asked, moving to the side to let Gabriel through.

 

“I don’t have a concussion.” Dean argued.

 

“This is exciting. Okay, one second.” Gabriel walked back into his room, reemerging with a bag, “come this way children.”

 

Dean and Castiel followed him down the hallway, taking a sharp right into a bright white bathroom. It had a giant double sink right inside to the left, a bathtub to the right and shower next to it. The toilet was in the far left corner, and Gabriel sat his bag on the counter next to it.

 

Gabriel pulled up a stool, “Sit Dean-o. Let’s have a look.” He opened up the bag and inside was a wide variety of medical tools and supplies. He grabbed a flashlight and held it up to Dean’s eyes. “So let’s start off with the questions: What is your name and when were you born?”

 

“Dean Michael Winchester, January 24th, 2000”

 

“How many siblings do you have?”

 

“One, Sam Winchester.”

 

“Do you feel dizzy or drowsy?”

 

“Well I feel like shit but I can directly relate that to other injuries.”

 

“Do you have a headache?”

 

“Not right now but my nose hurts.”

 

“Did you pass out after you were hit, or kicked in the face? Are you seeing double of me or is anything blurry?”

 

“I didn’t pass out and my vision is fine.”

 

“You don’t have a concussion. But your nose is totally broken. I’m gonna wait until it stops swelling and then I’m gonna set it. This is gonna be fucking great.”

 

“Where did you learn all this shit anyways?” Dean asked, wincing as Gabriel touched his nose.

 

Gabriel laughed a little, “When I was fifteen I was a drug dealer, a really good drug dealer. And I sold stuff like pills and weed and coke, the usual, and we have this brother, Lucifer. So me and Lucifer don’t really get along all that much and we would really do anything to get each other in trouble. So when Luci found out about my little business he dug around in my room, mind you think is a full ass adult I’m talking about who lived with us at the time, and found some of my shit.

 

He told our parents and I got into lots and lots of trouble with them and the only way they thought they could fix me is if they shipped me off to boarding school in Europe. Jokes on fucking them I didn’t do shit there. Fast forward about six months, I had this friend Max that I used to fuck around with, still selling drugs, mostly weed though, and I was at his house all the time. And his mom was hot as hell, like a twelve out of ten, I tell ya.

 

So I started to hang around her a lot while Max was off at soccer practice, which was actually called football there by the way, and she was a surgeon, a bone surgeon. And when I was hanging around her she taught me a thing or two about medical shit. Well, more than a thing or two-”

 

“He’s helped quite a few people here and there at parties and shit. And I wouldn’t believe the story myself if it hadn’t been confirmed by multiple people.” Castiel added.

 

“Anyways, Max found out that I was fucking his mother and he didn’t take to kindly to that so I got banned from his house and shortly after that I came home.”

 

“You still sell weed?” Dean asked curiously.

 

“I do, what can I help you with.” Gabriel asked as he prepared to begin stitching Dean’s face.

 

“I got $40 on me, something indica?”

 

“I can do that, let me stitch up your face first.”

 

\-------

 

“Here,” Gabriel handed Dean a small bag with few joints inside “I even rolled them for you.”

 

Dean began to reach into his pocket for cash but Gabriel batted his hand away, “Nah man, you’ve seemed to have a bad night. This is on me.”

 

“Thanks, Gabriel.”

 

“Don’t mention it, kid. Come see me in the morning and I’ll fix your nose for ya.”

 

\-------

 

“I like your brother, he seems cool.” Dean said as he set his stuff on the floor of Castiel’s room. “He called me a twink though, and I don’t know if I’m okay with that.”

 

Castiel mumbled a response along the lines of well you kinda do and Dean glared at him but quickly got over it.

 

“Man I feel great. Those painkillers Gabriel gave me fucking work.” Dean said as he sat down.

 

“Hey so I know you probably won’t feel up for it but I feel I should ask..”

 

Dean looked up to him, “What?”

 

“Do you want to get high with me and go to Target and search for one of those blankets that Balthazar has?”

 

“Ok.”

 

\-------

“I can’t believe I used to hate you. This was a great idea.” Dean was walking into Target beside Castiel.

 

“I can’t believe you’re actually walking right now, after something like that I would probably have like passed out from exhaustion and shit. Your nose is _broken_.” Castiel said as he grabbed a cart.

 

“I know man it hurt like a bitch. Anyways, we’re searching for an amazingly soft, giant blanket that has Batman on it.”

 

“I want to see if there’s a different kind other than Batman because me and Balthazar get very territorial over our blankets and having the same one would get nasty. He forgets his all over the place and then accuses people of stealing them, much like you witnessed earlier today.” Castiel said.

 

Dean looked over to him, “You are a very weird person, you know that?”

 

“So I’ve been told.”

 

“But you’re very much less of a douche outside of school, or is that just to me?” Dean asked.

 

They continued down the aisle until they reached the home furniture and supplies section. Around them was pillows, pictures frames, comforters, and throw blankets. They looked around, searching for the blanket.

 

“You got a girlfriend?” Castiel casually asked.

 

“No, you?”

 

“I’m gay.” Castiel said nonchalantly.

 

“I’m bisexual.” Dean blurted out suddenly.

 

Castiel looked at Dean, and Dean at Castiel, both unsure of what to say.

 

Dean, wide eyed, “I’ve never told anyone that other than Sam and Charlie, and I think Bobby kind of guessed but-wow I am so high-I um I’ve just never, like people get angry and but you’re gay so you won’t but li-”

 

“Dean!” Castiel stopped and looked at him intensely, “Calm your shit.”

 

“You’re gay? I can name like twelve girls who would kill to sleep with you.”

 

Castiel laughed, “Once I got really high at a party my brother threw and laid across a rainbow flag on a table while talking about how much I loved dick and people are still convinced I’m straight. I don’t get it.”

 

“Where did you get the flag?” Dean asked in disbelief at Castiel’s confession.

 

“I bought it to hang up in my room, and it’s on my wall still. Did you not see it? I mean I have a rainbow lanyard for christ sake.”

 

“Maybe you should do some grand announcement to tell everyone.” Dean offered.

 

“Oh my god there they are.” Castiel stared straight forward at the throw blankets right in front of him. They were all in different colored paper sleeves, each one representing a different thing, from music to tv shows and comic books. “God I love Target.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took so long, and I'm sorry for the angst. I tried to fix it with humor? It's stupid but whatever. I'll try to post again this week.


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little bit of angst, little bit of happiness, and a whole lot of Destiel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

When Dean was about twelve- years-old, he was left with Sammy in a motel room for two weeks by his father. They were given money for food and then left in the room to entertain themselves. After about a week of watching shitty cable on a barely working TV in the middle of the motel room, Sam decided he wanted to go outside and play.

 

Dean, being the twelve-year-old he was, thought this was a fantastic idea and led his brother outside of their motel room. At some point, Sam dared Dean to climb up the side of a dilapidated concrete wall that looked like it was about to fall down any minute. Dean had, by some miracle, managed to climb the entire wall without it falling to pieces. And after an hour or so of daring each other to do certain things outside, Dean decided it was about time to eat lunch. He went inside to get peanut butter and bread.

 

Sam idolized his bigger brother, he wanted to be just like him. So when Dean actually climbed all the way up that wall, Sam wanted to show him he could do it too. So he started up the wall, carefully grabbing at the dents, and cautiously stepping from place to place. He made it about five feet up the wall before he heard a sharp _Sammy!_ coming from behind him. The shout made him jump, and just before Dean could tell him to climb down, Sam lost his balance and fell.

 

Dean had sat there trying to figure out what he was supposed to do as he listened to Sammy scream and cry out in pain. He decided to call Bobby, who was only about twenty minutes away he’d been told. When Bobby got there he took Sam to the hospital, and they found out that he had broken his arm.

 

When John was told about this by Bobby, he got there immediately. And when he demanded Dean tell him the whole story he got angry.

 

_So the reason that Sammy is in a hospital bed is because you couldn't follow orders?_

 

A harsh silent treatment was put in place until they signed out and got home. Dean could practically smell the rage coming from his father, and he was terrified. But not as terrified as he was when his father took off his belt and pelted his body three times before he got hammered and left, not returning for another week.

 

This was the first time in Dean’s life that his father had ever physically abused him other than spankings in his toddler years.

 

And that was when the nightmares started.

 

“Dean! God _dammit_ , Dean! Wake the fuck up!”

 

Dean was suddenly pulled from his dreams and was faced with darkness all around him. He looked down the side of the bed, where his hand gripped the sheet with an almost bone-breaking force. He could feel the too-hot blankets around him, all damp from his sweat. And something was on top of him, grabbing him and.. screaming? Was someone _screaming_ at him?

 

“Dean! What the-Dean!” Came a low, sleep-scratchy voice.

 

Castiel? Why the hell was Castiel... _straddling_ him in the middle of the night? A bright light flashed in his eyes and he closed them quickly, blinking until his he could see what was in front of him.

 

Castiel was sitting practically in his lap, both knees on either side of Dean’s legs, his hand pressing into Dean’s shoulder as he looked down at his face. Dean couldn’t help but notice how naked Castiel was, only a gray and black pair of boxers on his entire body. Dean looked back down… he had passed out in his blood splattered clothes. _Shit_ , that means he went to Target covered in blood.

 

“Dean!” he heard again.

 

“What th - How am -” he looked around, confused.

 

“Dean! Take a goddamn breath!” Dean pulled back, sending Castiel tumbling off of him.

 

“Where the fuck am I?” he asked.

 

“My house! Me, it’s Castiel. What the shit just happened, dude? Do you know how long I’ve been trying to wake you up?” Castiel said frantically, trying to catch his breath.

 

“I - um - bad dream, I guess,” he said, completely confused with his surroundings. He was breathing like he had just run a marathon, and sitting on the floor next to him was Castiel, breathing the same.

 

“You were screaming and thrashing in the bed, hell of a bad dream don’t you think?” he got up from the floor and moved to the end of the bed where he was originally sleeping.

 

“I - uh - get night terrors and shit. At least that’s what Sammy’s told me before. Sorry I woke you up.” Dean awkwardly sat up, not knowing what to do next, “Man, I need a fucking smoke.” he said as he leapt from the bed and began to dig around in his stuff. Behind him, Castiel grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a shirt and putting them on quickly.

 

“You don’t have to come with me, it’s like three in the morning,” Dean said as he faced a now-fully-clothed Castiel.

 

\-------

 

The cold air of the night swept by as Dean and Cas walked outside. Every gust passing by made Castiel shiver, and wish he had brought a coat. He cursed Dean, who unaffected by the temperature even though he was without so much as a sweatshirt as well.

 

“You cold?” Dean asked, looking up to Castiel as he shivered yet again.

 

“I’m fine, I just didn’t expect it to be this windy out here,” he replied.

 

“Should have worn a sweater or something,” Dean said, reaching into his pocket to pull out a pack of cigarettes, pulling off the top and then grabbing one along with a lighter that was placed inside.

 

Castiel’s eyebrows furrowed, “How are you not cold?”

 

“Electricity's off half the time, and no electricity means no heat. I’m used to the cold,” he replied as he offered Castiel a smoke with a gesture flick of the wrist towards him.

 

He accepted, grabbing one out of the pack, and mumbling a small ‘thank you’. Dean lit his, holding the lighter close to the end of the cigarette sticking out of his mouth. His hands were shaking, and making it impossibly hard to light it. Castiel walked up to him, gently taking the lighter from his hand, holding up to Dean and lighting it for him.

 

They didn’t say anything for the next few minutes to come. Castiel wasn’t sure what to say, or if he should say anything. Dean seemed distant, and out of it. It might have been from the fact that it was three in the morning, but Castiel thought it might have to do a little more with the events that had taken place the day before, that it was all just hitting him now.

 

“You ok?” Castiel asked, anxiously swaying from side to side.

 

No answer. Dean just started at the ground and stood stiffly. And if it weren't for a delayed, small nod of the head, Castiel would have thought Dean might not have even heard him.

 

“You know, when Michael was in the fourth grade at the end of the year, about a month before school let out, we were sent a letter saying that he was eligible to skip a grade. This meant that he would be with Balthazar in the sixth grade, and of course to Naomi, our mother, this was one of the most wonderful things that could happen to our family, and God had blessed him with this gift of intelligence and blah blah blah. So she immediately accepted without so much as asking Michael if he wanted to.

 

Michael really wasn’t a popular kid, still isn’t, but back in the fourth-grade kids were really mean to him because he spent all his time reading books and he showed off what he knew to the teacher all the time. I guess he made some of those other shitty kids feel stupid or something because they would all spend a great amount of time picking on him. And one day during class the teacher, Mrs. Brock I think her name was, was talking to Michael about the books he needed to read during the summer to compensate for what he would be missing during fifth grade.

 

I guess some of the kids overheard what was going on because later that day, during recess they ganged up on him, and this one piece of shit brought his brother who was a seventh grader. We go to school with him now, his name is Alistair.” Dean’s eyes widened to the name, “They beat him up, and I don’t mean he had a couple bruises and maybe a black eye. No, these kids mauled him. He had to get seven stitches in total and received a concussion.

 

Now this story seems a little bit ridiculous, I know. Why would these kids get so upset over something so little? I don’t really think that they got upset at all. They just wanted a reason to beat up someone smaller than them. And they did that not because they have a hard life, a bad past, or were going through something rough, they did it because they were shitty kids. And still are. What happened to Michael was in no way his fault, he was merely a victim.

 

Despite what happened to him, Michael continued to academically overachieve. And despite what has happened to you, and what keeps to happen to you, you continue to do a great job in what you do. Managing a household? Parenting Sam? Getting food on the table? Those aren’t exactly easy things to accomplish, especially at the age of sixteen. What your father does is not your fault, and what you’ve made out of this bad situation is - “

 

Castiel was cut off by a pair of warm, wet lips pressed against his own and he could barely function as Dean grabbed the side of his face roughly with one hand and his hip with the other. They pulled away for a second, staring at each other, and then leaning forward again for another kiss.

 

“Thank you,” Dean whispered, his lips inches away from Castiel’s.

 

“For what?” he asked.

 

“You know what. Are we going back inside or what, I’m fucking exhausted,” Dean pulled Castiel in for one more quick, passionate kiss before pulling away and turning around to walk inside.

 

\-------

 

Dean awoke to a husky, cinnamon smell overcoming all of his senses, and warmness surrounding him. He opened his eyes slowly, blinking to get rid of the immediate blurriness, and was faced with darkness. He was laying on his left side, with his legs brought up and over what he thought was a blanket. He moved his arm from the uncomfortable position below him, and brought it up to side; flinching when he felt a soft, warm hand on his right hip. Then he realized why he was so warm, Castiel was practically draped over him: his legs tangled together with Dean’s, chin just above Dean’s head - pulling him against his chest - and his hand reached underneath Dean’s shirt and on his bare hip. If it weren’t for the fact that he was mildly embarrassed to be in the position he was, Dean might have actually been happy, maybe even a little turned on.

 

But at the moment he was just kind of wondering where he was supposed to put his hand. He didn’t want to put it on Castiel’s hand, where he was originally planning on putting it, and he definitely _could not_ put it on Castiel. And laying it behind him would just be awkward and uncomfortable, so he decided on just bending his arm and laying it on the side of his chest slowly so he wouldn’t wake up Castiel.

 

He heard a small rumble of laughter from Castiel’s chest, “Did you know you talk in your sleep?” he asked, rubbing small circles into Dean's hip.

 

Dean jerked backward and looked up to him, “I do not,” he said, offense in his voice.

 

“You totally do, you talk about the most random shit too,” Castiel’s voice was deep, and gravelly with sleep, “‘ _Sam, do your damn homework_ ’, a lot of stuff about cars? Oh, and my favorite so far ‘ _What the fuck do you mean Harry Potter is better than Lord of the Rings_?’ You know, I’ve heard people talk in their sleep, but it has never been that in depth.” he chuckled lightly.

 

“I do not talk in my sleep,” Dean said, grumbling slightly.

 

Castiel moved his hand from Dean’s hip to his back, and Dean caught himself from whining at the loss. He wiggled a little to get more comfortable up against Castiel. He didn’t really know what they were doing. They had only really known each other for about a day, yet in that time Dean seemed to have connected with Castiel more than any other person excluding Sam and Charlie.

 

He didn’t know if Castiel really wanted this, or if he was just trying to make Dean feel better. But Dean could definitely claim that he had a major crush on Castiel, who was currently pressed up against him and looking impossibly hot.

 

“What - um - what are we exactly doing here, like wh -” Castiel cut him off with a brief kiss.

 

“I think that you’re amazing, Dean,” Castiel talked quietly against Dean’s lips, “and I would fucking love it if you would accompany me to lunch today, maybe as a date?”

 

Dean sucked in harshly, caught off guard by the sudden question. How could Castiel be so forward? It was amazing how calmly Castiel could just ask questions like that. Dean had never dated, never _been_ with a guy before, he was nervous, to say the least.

 

“Don’t we have -? Fuck, I think we’re late for school,” he would have jumped off the bed if it weren’t for Castiel’s hand pressing into his back, keeping him on the bed.

 

“Fuck school, go to lunch with me,” he insisted.

 

“You don’t want to date me, Castiel. I’m a fucking handful. You’ve seen it first hand, I wouldn’t be a fun person to date,” Dean said, looking at Castiel, eyes serious.

 

“I have a couple of fucked up religious parents, eight brothers, one of which is a known drug dealer, and an absent father. You’re not the only one with baggage, I promise,” Castiel moved his hand back to Dean’s hip, making Dean’s breath hitch.

 

“I - um - ok, I mean yeah, yes I,” he cleared his throat, “sure”.

 

Castiel kissed him roughly, gripping his hip. His thumb dug into Dean’s hip sensually, and the other hand raised to Dean’s face, fingers gripping into his hair as he pressed Dean’s face closer to his own. He rolled over to drape over Dean and began to move his hips slowly. The effect was immediate, Dean groaned quietly into Castiel’s mouth.

 

The stayed like that, grinding against each other, Dean gasping and panting into the kiss. He wasn’t used to being in this position, laying on the bed instead of on top, looking to Castiel for what to do instead of leading the actions. He’d never done this with a guy before, and he had no idea what he was doing.

 

Castiel moved his hands up and down Dean’s sides, creating a smooth, elegant continuous movement that was absolutely wrecking Dean. He could feel Castiel erection up against his own, only a couple pairs of boxers in between them. They were both groaning into each other, and Dean felt like he shouldn't be as affected as he was by Castiel’s movements. They picked up the pace, chasing their climaxes.

 

“Fuck, Cas,” Dean moaned, trying desperately to not come before Castiel. Dean was on the verge of coming, knowing full well that if he were not a teenager it would be completely embarrassing how fast he’s about to come from just dry-humping.

 

“ _Dean_ ,” Castiel managed to get out before he felt Dean tense up, his mouth opening in a silent scream, and gripping Castiel’s back with his nails.

 

Not a moment later Castiel came as well, grabbing Dean’s hips, and shoving his head in the crook of Dean’s neck, trying to minimize his groans. They rode out their highs, and Castiel collapsed on top of Dean breathlessly.

 

“You know, I’d say this a great start to a relationship,” Castiel whispered into Dean’s ear.

 

Dean laughed and pushed Cas’s body off of him, “This mansion got a shower somewhere?” he asked.

 

“Many, mines through that door over there,” Castiel pointed to the black door to the left of the room.

 

“Can I use it?” Dean asked shyly.

 

“‘Course you can,” Cas replied, slowly getting up and grabbing some clothes from his dresser, “you need any clothes?”

 

Dean shook his head, “You made me pack, remember?”

 

“Right. Uh, towels should be in there already, and like shampoo and shit,” he said.

 

“You’re not gonna take a shower too?” Dean asked as he watched Cas gather his clothes.

 

“Well as much as I would like to share a hot, steamy shower with you, I already took a shower about seven hours ago while you were passed out so I think I’m good. We’ll just have to wait until another time that I can have you pressed up against a wall in the shower, bummer,” he replied, leaving Dean’s mouth agape.

 

\-------

 

“What kind of food do you want for lunch?” Castiel asked as Dean walked out of the bathroom.

 

“I don’t care, whatever sounds good to you, man,” Dean replied, wanting food and utterly indifferent to what kind considering he was currently starving. And, as if on cue, his stomach rumbled embarrassingly loud.

 

Castiel rolled his eyes at the answer, ignoring Dean’s stomach sounds, “Okay, okay, Italian, Mexican, or American?”

 

“Like I said, whatever sounds good to you.”

 

“Answer the question or I’m going to starve you,” Cas said, face completely serious.

 

Dean eyes widened at the remark, “Okay - um - American, you mean like burgers and shit?” Castiel nodded his head, “Uh, yeah, that then.”

 

“Cool, Roadhouse or somewhere else?” he asked.

 

“Can’t go to the Roadhouse." Dean stated flatly.

 

Castiel’s eyebrows furrowed, “Why not?”

 

“You remember Bobby from last night?” he nodded, “Well his wife, Ellen, owns the Roadhouse and I can guarantee you that we wouldn’t be left alone if we went there.”

 

“Yeah, I know Ellen. We could place an order for pickup and then go eat somewhere else,” Cas suggested.

 

“I know where we should go.”

 

\-------

 

They ended up a small park a couple minutes past Dean’s house, laying on the grass and eating greasy cheeseburgers while talking about family, and school, and music. Castiel asked Dean questions, trying to get to know him better, or at least know enough that he could keep a conversation going. Dean stammered out his answers awkwardly and did his best to calm himself down.

 

He still was in disbelief in what was happening. Castiel Novak wanting to date him? He was amazed that Castiel had come back after dropping him off the night before, let alone going on a full-on date with him. The entire situation should have scared Castiel off the minute he walked into Dean’s house to find his face black and blue with blood spattered all over his clothes, but for some reason, he had stayed. And Dean decided he would just enjoy it while it lasted, figuring Castiel would soon realize how fucked up he was a back out of the relationship. It wouldn’t be the first time something like that has happened, and it sure as hell wouldn't be the last. But for now, Dean just tried to appreciate the time he had with Castiel.

 

He was currently laying on his side in the grass, head tilted over to the side to stare at Cas, who was currently blabbering away about a party that Gabriel had taken him to the weekend before.

 

“-and Sebastian? He walked in on Ruby screwing Alistair in one of the bedrooms while he was trying to find a bathroom. Poor guy, I always thought they were going to stay together and get married and shit, they seemed like the perfect couple,” he said sadly, running his hands through his faded blue hair and laying back onto the grass.

 

“Me and Charlie were talking about that a couple days ago but I didn’t know what actually happened, that fucked up,” Dean agreed, trying his best not to get lost into Castiel’s intensely perfect ocean blue eyes.

 

He hadn’t realized just how attractive Castiel was until this moment. From the side view of his face, Dean could see how perfectly the sun shone through his dark brown hair and pierced through his eyes. He could see his lean, muscular body through the tight, white Pixies shirt that was riding up just enough to show his hip bones, which literally killed Dean to look at. His skin was skin kissed and completely clear, which Dean envied extremely because he absolutely loathed the freckles that covered his own body.

 

“When was the last time you went to a party?” Castiel asked.

 

“Uh, like a year ago, and it lasted for like an hour before the cops showed up. That was okay, though, because I didn’t even really want to be there Charlie made me go,” Dean said, a little embarrassed about admitting how long it had been since he went to a party.

 

“Are you free next Friday night?”

 

“I get off at like seven, I think,” Dean replied.

 

“Perfect, you should come with me to Benny’s party,” Castiel said excitedly.

 

“Uh, ok. Yeah, sure but you have to pick me up ‘cause I don’t have a car..”

 

“Of course. You want to split a joint with me?” Castiel asked, shoving around in his pockets for lighter with one hand, joint in the other. He was answered with an immediate groan and a grimace on Dean’s face. “Is that a no?”

 

“Yes - I mean - fuck, yeah I’ll split it with you it’s just my nose fucking hurts,” Dean said, gently touching it, and scowled as he was greeted with searing pain.

 

“Yeah a broken nose’ll do that,” Castiel remarked, lightly the joint.

 

Dean was cursing his father for the pain, though thankful that his nose didn’t hurt as bad as when it did when Gabriel set it right after his shower in the morning.

 

_“Where’s the broken-faced twink?” Gabriel asked excitedly as he ran into Castiel’s room._

 

_“Uh, bathroom,” Castiel replied._

 

_Not a second later Gabriel barged into the bathroom, scaring the crap out of a freshly-showered, half-dressed Dean._

 

_“Jesus fucking hell, Gabriel! Don’t you knock?” he screamed, hearing a small chuckled coming from Cas in the other room._

 

_“I wouldn’t put that shirt on yet if I were you, this shits probably gonna bleed. Sit down, and be still for Christ's sake.”_

 

_It took about a minute of painfully feeling around Dean’s nose and a sudden crack! and a “Sonuva bitch!” coming from Dean before Gabriel was complete and shoved a ready ice-pack and an orange pill bottle into Dean’s hand and left the room._

 

 _“_ Oh _my fuck!” Dean hunched over into his lap, holding a towel he had Gabriel had grabbed up to his face._

 

_Castiel was over there in seconds, asking Dean if he was okay, “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine just give me a minute,” Dean waved him off standing up and practically pushing him out of the room and then closing the door to calm down and finish getting dressed._

 

Castiel handed him the joint, “This’ll probably help.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I said slow-burn in the tags but fuck it, I got impatient, ok? Anyways, I know this chapter was a little bit slow and uneventful so I'm sorry for that but I promise the next chapter will be interesting. We're gonna get to see more Sam later in the chapters so don't worry, and same goes for Charlie. And the story at the beginning of the chapter is completely unrelated to the show and made up for the storyline. Other than that, thank you so much for reading, please leave kudos, and comment if you have any ideas, questions, or concerns.  
> -  
> Oh! And if someone can explain to me how I can get hyperlinks into the end notes I would appreciate it so much!


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Work and Castiel/Charlie visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading!

The blaring sound of AC/DC woke up Dean with a start. He quickly turned it off, pressing the red END button clumsily. He groaned loudly, running one hand over his face, and blinking to get rid of the blurriness. A dull pain ran through his head steadily: a headache. Just what he needed before working a nine-hour shift at the garage. He slowly got out of bed and stumbled over clothes as he walked into the kitchen. He began the most important process of the morning; making coffee.

 

All Dean could think about was Castiel: his lips, his hair, the piercings, and that little scrunch he made with his eyebrows when he was thinking or confused about something. God, Dean was such a dork, he was infatuated in Castiel's existence and it hadn’t even been a day since they got together. Every thought had to do with _Cas_ , and Dean was embarrassed to admit that just to himself. He felt stupid, but at the same time he felt content; Castiel was there for him, he felt better around him, and that was something Dean genuinely needed in his life right now.

 

Staring at himself in the bathroom mirror, Dean realized just how severely his father had hurt him. His right eye was black and blue, as well as his bandaged nose, and his lip was cut in multiple places. He pulled off his sweatshirt, revealing more bruises littered across his stomach and chest. Sighing, he pulled off the rest of his clothes and climbed into the shower. He tried to distract himself from the thought of his father by thinking about the party he was going to on Friday.

 

Benny’s place? He had never been good friends with Benny, the guy seemed okay. He hung out with Charlie and him in middle school, but other than that he didn’t know much about him. Though he didn’t seem the type to throw a party. Nonetheless, he was excited. Mostly because he would be hanging out with Castiel the whole time, but also because he wanted to get Charlie off his ass about him never doing anything fun.

 

So he liked staying in and binge watching Lord of the Rings over going out and watching lightweights puke over stairwells: Sue him! Charlie always urged him to go to with her to these stupid parties hosted by jocks and cheerleaders, but he never did. And he thanked the dear lord he didn’t because every Monday after he would hear about the horrible shit gone wrong at them: people falling down the stairs, people hooking up with people they definitely _would not_ sleep with if they were sober, alcohol poisoning, and so much more. So yes, he gladly stayed indoors during the weekend. He usually had to work anyways and used that excuse generously.

 

After his shower, Dean got dressed, putting on jeans and a white t-shirt, nothing fancy considering he would have to change into coveralls when he got the shop. He made toast and grabbed another cup of coffee before heading out to work.

 

Sometimes Bobby came and picked him up, but mostly Dean had to walk to work. It was around two and a half miles to the shop. But it wasn’t as bad as it seems, he entertained himself with music from his phone, or texting Charlie. Sometimes he ran home, wanting to get some exercise in, or wanting to get home in time to make Sam food on the weekends. He actually enjoyed the walk, it was time to clear his head, and think out any frustrations he had. And walking to the grocery store, where he also worked, was about a half mile more the other direction.

 

He decided to call Sam and check in. Pulling out his phone, he clicked into contacts and scrolled down until he reached Sam.

 

“ _Hey, Dean what’s up?_ ”

 

“Hey, Sammy! How you been, I meant to call you yesterday but I forgot.”

 

“ _Ellen taught me how to make pecan pie, and we made some for you. Ellen told Bobby to take it to work and give it to you._ ”

 

Dean perked up at the statement, “Oh fuck yes! God, I love you, kid.”

 

“ _Gross, Dean. How was Castiel after.. the uh..._ ”

 

“We hung out a little, and his brother fixed my nose and gave me stitches and shit, which was cool. Hurt like a bitch, though,” Dean said quickly, cutting Sam off.

 

“ _Hung out? What’d you guys do?_ ” Sam asked teasingly.

 

“Shut it, we just got high and went to Target, nothing fancy. But I might actually be dating him, by the way,” Dean said, cursing to himself right after the remark.

 

“ _No fucking way! I knew it!_ ”

 

“Hey! What your fucking mouth, Sammy. I might not have any decency, but I’m sparing you!”

 

Sam sighed obnoxiously, “ _God Dean, you’re so lame_ ,” he complained sarcastically, “ _but I totally knew it. You look at him like all you want to do is hug him and it’s disgusting_.”

 

“Oh, fuck off,” Dean said playfully, “I do not. And what’s going on with that girl of yours? Jess?”

 

“ _She’s not my ‘girl’ okay? She’s just my friend and-_ ” there was a small pause “ _I gotta go, Dean, Jo wants to explain poker to me._ ”

 

“You know how to play poker, Sam, I taught you.”

 

“ _I know that Dean, but she doesn’t and there’s peanut butter M &M’s on the line._”

Dean laughed at his little brother's scheme, “I like the way you think. Alright, I’ll let you go. I gotta get to work anyways. Love ya, I’ll call you tomorrow.”

 

“ _Again, Dean, gross._ ”

 

Sam hung up the phone and Dean put his headphones in, turning it to a band Castiel told him to listen to. They were called Rancid, and Dean had heard of them before but had never really listened to them.

 

\-------

Dean nervously stared at the number written on his hand, now faded because of the shower he took, but still legible. He was sitting in the break room, eating half a sandwich he had packed for lunch. He only had about two hours left of his shift, and then a four-hour shift at the grocery store a few hours after that. After about eight minutes of contemplation, Dean decided to text Castiel. He punched in Cas’s digits into contacts and nervously sent him a text.

 

To: [Cas]  
From: [Me]  
11:32 a.m.  
_Hey, this is Dean._

 

A couple minutes passed with no answer. Dean checked the number written on his hand four times and cursed himself for being so awkward over text message. _Hey, this is Dean?_ God, there would have been at least twelve other better things to say.

 

A minute later Dean felt his phone vibrate in his hand and heard a loud ding! He looked down quickly to check his phone.

 

To: [Me]  
From: [Cas}  
11:37 a.m.  
_Hello, Dean. What’s up?_

 

Dean took a quick look around at his surroundings.

 

To: [Cas]  
From:[Me]  
11:38 a.m.  
_I’m on break at work. What about you?_

 

To: [Me]  
From: [Cas]  
11:39 a.m.  
_I’m trying to watch Psych over the sound of my brothers wrestling behind me. Have you ever watched Psych? I feel like this show is so underrated._

 

To: [Cas]  
From: [Me]  
11:40 a.m.  
_I don’t think I have. I listened to that band you told me to listen to, Rancid, they were good._

 

To: [Me]  
From: [Cas]  
11:42 a.m.  
_They’re amazing, and I still can’t believe you never listened to them before. Anyways, When do you get off work?_

 

To: [Cas]  
From: [Me]  
11:44 a.m.  
_I got off at 2, but I have to go back to work from 4 to 8 at Anderson's._

  
To: [Cas]  
From: [Me]  
11:44 a.m.  
_I gotta go my break is almost over. I’ll text you later?_

 

To: [Me]  
From: [Cas]  
11:45 a.m.  
_Okay, I’ll see you later, bye._

 

Dean quickly threw away the rest of his lunch, feeling a little bit stupid because of the awkward conversation that he had just had. Brushing it off, he got back to working on the beaten up Camaro that had come into the shop hours before.

 

\-------

 

By the time Dean got home, it was nine o’clock at night. He was utterly exhausted, and all he wanted to do was eat and go to bed. He awkwardly pulled out a cigarette from the pack with one hand, pie in the other, and lit it, standing just outside the driveway. Standing there, he thought about what he was going to do to get food. He didn’t get paid by Bobby or Jessica, his other boss, until Friday. That was half the reason he sent Sammy to go chill with Bobby and Ellen: They didn’t have any food or money to buy some.

 

Well, he still had that forty bucks, but that wasn’t going to go far especially when feeding two teenage boys. What would most likely happen is Dean would pick up a pack of Top Ramen to last him the rest of the week and save the rest of the money until he could actually do some shopping. He hoped to God his father took it upon himself to pay the electricity and water bills. They no longer had a mortgage, and Dean wasn’t exactly sure how his father pulled that off but he was happy he didn’t have to try to scrounge up $1400 a month like he had done multiple times before. He couldn’t even think of the things he had done to pull that off without cringing. God, his father was such a piece of shit.

 

“You walk to work?”

 

Dean almost jumped out of his skin, his heartbeat pumping fast as he coughed and sputtered on smoke. In front of him was Castiel, unresponsive to Dean’s reaction.

 

“Jesus Christ, Cas. You scared the shit outta me,” Dean said, trying to recollect himself, putting out the half smoke cigarette and shoving it back into the pack, “What are you doing here?”

 

“I was bored, and you said you got off at eight so I figured I would stop by and see if you were home,” he said, completely serious, “I just got here like ten minutes ago.”

 

“Um, ok, I was just going to eat and then go to bed so It’s not gonna be much fun, but you can come in if you want,” Dean began to walk towards the house, Castiel by his side.

 

“I also brought you food,” Dean turned around and looked at Castiel, surprised at the statement, and then turned back around to hide his relieved face.

 

“Thanks,” he said awkwardly. Castiel stopped briefly by his car to grab the food. Dean didn’t know what it was but it smelled fucking divine. It was a couple of white, foam boxes wrapped into a plastic bag.

 

Once they reached the house, Dean pulled out his keys and unlocked the front door. They walked in together, and Dean was immediately embarrassed about how messy the place was. Plates stacked up in the sink, jackets, and sweatshirts thrown across the couches and chairs. He could see his blood spattered across the white carpet in the corner of the room.

 

“I’m, um, I’m sorry about the mess, I was planning on cleaning tomorrow and-” Castiel turned Dean around fast, and pulled him into a heated kiss.

 

“I don’t give a shit about the mess. You’ve seen my house, it’s a fucking catastrophe,” he said, grabbing Dean’s hip and kissing him again, “let’s eat.”

 

Dean could have made the argument that no, his house wasn’t that messy, and also there was way too many teenage boys living there to wreck it and only two living here, but he just decided to leave it alone and lead Castiel to his room. He wasn’t sure if he could stand looking at the blood seeped into the carpet for entire meal period and the table itself was dirty so he figured the next best place would be his room.

 

Walking in, he pushed the clothes on his floor off to the side and sat down on his bed. Castiel did the said, sitting next to him and pulling out the food. Inside, was noodles covered in white sauce, and Dean’s mouth watered at the scent.

 

“Alfredo?” Castiel asked.

 

“Holy shit, that smells fucking amazing,” Dean exclaimed, eagerly taking the food and a plastic fork Castiel handed him. He quickly scooped up a forkful and shoved it into his mouth, moaning at the taste. Castiel watched, amused at Dean’s reaction, taking a bite of his own food.

 

“Hungry, were you?” he asked, teasing Dean as he took another bite.

 

“So fucking hungry,” Dean answered, leaning into Castiel’s side affectionately.

 

Castiel ate quietly as Dean scarfed down his food, moaning with each bite. If it weren’t for the fact that Dean was extremely tired, he would have been embarrassed by the sounds he was making.

 

Once they were done eating Dean roamed out to the kitchen table, looking over it intensely.  


“What are you looking for?” Castiel asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

 

“Um, nothing,” Dean dismissed his question, continuing to move stuff around. He glanced at Castiel, who was frowning at him, “I’m looking to see if my father left any money for us. And,” Dean looked at the coffee table as well, “I don’t think he did.”

 

Castiel wasn’t sure what to say to that answer, he just stood there, looking at Dean, regretting his question.

 

“Oh, Jesus, don’t look at me like that, it’s fine I have two jobs for a reason, I didn’t expect him to leave any money I was just hoping,” Dean said, feeling awkward as Castiel looked at him with pity.

 

“You know, you could stay with me. My mother’s never home and never is Zachariah, they’re always on business trips. Sam can come too, he could hang out with Michael and Balth, or even stay with you in one of the guest rooms. We have like four.”

 

“Cas, really, it’s fine,” Dean said, smiling at Castiel’s offer, “Don’t worry about it, I’m not as bad off as it seems. I actually prefer having to work and pay for shit myself over having my father be home.”

 

Again, Castiel gave him a pitiful look. Dean understood, of course, he would probably look at Castiel the same if the tables were turned. But he still hated it when people looked at him like that.

 

Dean grabbed Castiel’s hand and led him back to his room. There, he opened the window just above his bed and pulled out the pack of cigarettes in his pocket. He handed them and a lighter to Castiel.

 

“Are you staying here?” Dean asked, pulling out one of the drawers in the dresser.

 

“Do you want me to?” Castiel asked, pulling a smoke out of the pack.

 

“I don’t care, If you want to stay, stay. But know this, there’s barely any food here so you’ll either have to go home to eat in the morning or have coffee for breakfast,” Dean said, pulling off his shirt, and replacing it with a blue AC/DC one.

 

Dean walked over and grabbed a cigarette out of the pack too, lighting it, and blowing the smoke out of the small window.

 

“I have coffee for breakfast everyday anyways,” Castiel said, taking a drag and following Dean’s actions by blowing out the window.

 

Dean laughed at the remark, “And I don’t have any creamer, so it’s gonna be black coffee.”

 

“Just how I like it.”

 

“I guess it’s settled then,” Dean said.

 

\-------

 

When Dean woke up he immediately realized two things: One, Castiel was spooning the ever-loving shit outta him, and two, he could feel the outline of Castiel’s dick against his ass through each of their sets of boxers. And boy was that not helping him keep calm and collected as Castiel was pressed up against him, arm draped over his waist; pulling him in tighter. Their legs were tangled, and Castiel’s head was nudged into the back of Dean’s, breathing steadily against his neck.

 

It was a content feeling to have Castiel wrapped around him, and Dean liked it. All he could do was cuddle into Cas. He peeked open his eyes for a brief second to look at the clock. Eight fourteen. He didn’t have to work until one, it would be an easy Sunday. He planned to clean up the house, take a shower, and go to work, he got off at eight and afterward, he was going to do his math homework and probably call Sam.

 

He felt Castiel’s grip tighten around his waist for a second, then he heard a yawn.

 

“Morning, Dean,” he said releasing from Dean a little.

 

“Morning,” Dean said, not sure what his next move would be.

 

Castiel made it for him, completely releasing his grip and pulling back so that Dean was now laying on his back, Castiel above him. He immediately went for Dean’s neck, littering open-mouthed kisses all over. Dean couldn’t help but moan at the action. Castiel nipped up his neck until he reached his mouth.

 

“I should probably like brush my teeth or something,” Dean said, pulling back for half a second.

 

Castiel huffed out a laugh, “I don’t give a shit, and neither do you,” he said, continuing to nip at Dean’s jaw.

 

“True,” Dean answered, bringing one hand up to Castiel’s face, pulling him in for a heated kiss.

 

Dean couldn’t help but think how weird it was for Castiel to be so cool around him. Him? Dean Winchester? Why the hell would Castiel take such interest into Dean. Castiel was handsome and funny, and smart, and Dean just couldn’t understand why Castiel would want _him._

 

“You’re thinking too much, Dean. Stop it,” Castiel said with a smile, thrusting against Dean not a second later, making Dean bite his lip to hold back a moan.

 

Dean hitched one leg up over Castiel’s waist to bring him in closer, grinding his own waist upwards to meet Castiel’s thrusts.

 

“Oh _fuck,_ ” Castiel smiled as Dean moaned, “Don’t get too cocky, that wasn’t about you, I just remembered that Bobby sent me home with a pecan pie that Sam and Ellen made. Fuck yes,” and then came the brightest smile Cas had ever seen come from Dean.

 

“You really like pie, don’t you?” Castiel asked, going back in for a kiss, and fumbling to pull off Dean’s shirt.

 

When he was finally able to get his shirt off, Castiel began to kiss and lick down his stomach, making Dean moan with every touch. Dean gripped Castiel’s hair as his tongue slid across Dean’s nipples.

 

“I really fucking love pie,” Dean said, laughing at how ridiculous he sounds.

 

Castiel continued downward, making it to Dean’s navel, dipping his tongue in. Dean whined at the action, immediately regretting the sound that came out of his mouth. Castiel looked up, eyebrows arched and a grin plastered on his face. He ducked his head back down, now paying attention to his hips, licking and biting. Dean jumped a little as Castiel brought a hand up to his cock, rubbing softly against the stiff member. Dean, still on his back, looked down as Castiel started to pull down his boxers with his teeth slowly. He began to jack Dean off through the boxers while continuing to pull off his clothes and-

 

The door suddenly opened, followed by a gasp.

 

“Holy shit! I am so glad I didn’t walk into the room a minute later, you guys would have scarred me for life,” came an excited voice.

 

Castiel quickly pulled up to cover a very almost-entirely naked Dean.

 

“Jesus fucking Christ, Charlie! What the fuck!” Dean exclaimed, doing his best to pull his boxers back up.

 

“Oh, calm down. Ain’t nothing I haven’t seen before,” Castiel eyebrows raised at the comment, looking to Dean for an answer. Charlie peered over to look at Castiel, “Novak, nice tattoo,” she looked at the side of his thigh.

 

Dean scrambled to look at it, accidentally grabbing Cas’ ass as he pushed him over, “You have a tattoo?” Castiel nodded, “How did I not notice that?” Dean looked at it carefully, it was a large pair of black wings, covering the entire back of his left thigh.

 

Castiel raised his right arm, “There’s one here too,” beneath his arm, on his ribs, was another black tattoo, a curved symbol with a circle surrounding it, “this one hurt like a bitch.”

 

“The hell is that?” Dean asked, eyeing the tattoo suspiciously.

 

“It’s a family symbol, on my dad’s side, Gabriel’s got one too.”

 

“How the fuck didn’t I notice these,” Dean asked, astonished, “I am so bad at observing things, what the hell.”

 

“Wait,” Castiel and Dean turned towards Charlie, “are you guys like together, together?”

 

Dean looked at Castiel briefly, “Uh, yeah.”

 

Charlie’s eye lit up, and a grin appeared on her face, “Oh my god, and me and Jo are together now,” she gasped loudly and Dean started to protest her next though before it even got out, “we can go on double dates!”

 

“Nope. Nope. Absolutely not, hell no.” Dean argued. Castiel only smiled at the interaction between the two of them.

 

“And fucking hell Dean, what happened to your face?!” Charlie demanded.

 

Dean gave her a look, a look that immediately made something click in Charlie’s brain, and that was the end of it.

 

“What exactly are you doing here, anyways? And how did you get into my house?” Dean asked, avoiding her question.

 

“Well I was hanging out with Jo this morning, and she told me to tell you that Bobby said that he was closing the shop for the next few days because he had to go see _your_ father about something in like California, I think, which means that you have the day off and I got into your house because I have a key that you gave me when you were drunk about a month ago,” Charlie explained.

 

“Oh, shit, you’re probably right about that. I think I gave you our spare,” Dean thought for a second, “Did she say what he was helping my dad with?”

 

Charlie shrugged, “Nope, only that he was going to be gone for a couple days.”

 

“Shit, that’s like at least eighteen hours of work,” Dean griped.

 

Castiel turned around and quietly stated, “Another reason you should stay with me.”

 

“Oh yeah, and I’m over here because I thought you were gonna be super antisocial with your day off and like clean or something, so I figured I would come and waste your time. But, now that I see that someone else is wasting your time in a much more fun way, I guess I’ll be leaving,” Charlie said, turning to open the door.

 

“Give us a minute to get dressed, go crack out that pie in the fridge,” Dean said.

 

She grinned and walked outside, closing the door behind her.

 

Castiel quickly got up and locked the door.

 

“What’re you doi-” Dean started before Castiel cut him off with a kiss.

 

“This’ll only take a minute,” he said before snaking down until his face reached Dean’s crotch, his cock clearly still hard through the boxers. He pulled off Dean’s boxers, with a lift of the hips from Dean.

 

Dean moaned as his cock sprung free. Castiel immediately covered Dean’s mouth with one hand and began stroking Dean with the other. Dean tried to keep as quiet as possible as Castiel gripped his member, moving his hand up and down smoothly. A drop of pre-come formed at the head and Castiel dipped down to lick it off, making Dean’s hips involuntarily buck. Cas ducked down to lick and nip at the base of his dick. Dean whined at the action, Castiel’s hand still covering his mouth, muffling his sounds.

 

Dean looked down, and Castiel smiled at him before taking his entire length in his mouth, making Dean arch back and close his eyes at the feel of it. He doubled his efforts in making Dean come. Castiel could taste the salty pre-come against his tongue, and Dean grabbed at anything he could. One hand gripped the sheets, the other was in Castiel’s hair.

 

He briefly let go of the sheets to pry off Castiel’s hand, “ _Cas,_ ” he whined desperately.

 

He continued for a couple minutes, placing his hand back over Dean’s mouth to make him shut up. Dean tried to warn Castiel that he was about to come, pulling his hair and gripping and his shoulder, but Castiel kept going until the end, pulling off with a vulgar _pop_ right before Dean came, and jacking him off the rest of the way as he came back up to kiss Dean.

 

Dean tried to muffle his sounds into the kiss, his back arched, eyes closed. Castiel continued to pump his fist, helping Dean ride out his high.

 

“You okay?” Castiel asked, wiping his hand off on Dean’s t-shirt tossed to the side.

 

“Yeah. Uh, yeah I’m really fucking okay,” Dean laid back for a second, “Oh my god,” he sighed.

 

Castiel got up and began searching through Dean’s dresser, tossing random articles of clothing to the side.

 

“You, um, you want me to take care of you or-” Dean started awkwardly.

 

“Hmm? No, I don’t want to keep Charlie waiting, we can continue this later,” he replied with a wink, throwing clothes at Dean to wear, and picking his own off the floor to wear from the night before, “Can I borrow one of your sweatshirts? You came on mine,” he asked nonchalantly.

 

“Oh, shit, sorry, um yeah,” Dean began to get dressed, pulling open the closet door, revealing a plentiful amount of sweatshirts.

  
Castiel picked the black Led Zeppelin hoodie and put it on before he unlocked the door and walked out to meet up with Charlie. Dean got dressed quickly and followed Castiel out there. They found Charlie sitting at the kitchen table, eating pie, and furiously texting someone.

 

“I swear to shit Dean, your ex-girlfriend is driving me fucking insane,” Charlie announced, taking another angry bite of pie, “How fucking dare she?”

 

Dean sighed and sat down, taking a fork out of the pile of two Charlie had put out for them. He looked at Castiel, “Take a fork, this is how we eat pie.”

 

“I started the coffee up too,” Charlie added.

 

“Ah, bless you, kid. Now, what’s my crazy-ass ex-girlfriend up to?”

 

“Okay, did you hear why Sebastian and Ruby broke up?” Dean nodded, “Yeah, well she went and attacked Sebastian, saying that he was a shitty boyfriend and that he deserved to be cheated on.”

 

“Bullshit! He looked at that chick like she was his entire goddamn world, and defended the shit outta her when Alistair was cat-calling and shit at that one soccer game.” Dean protested.

 

“I know! But that’s just the fucking start of it. I was talking to Sebastian, ya know? Like trying to make him feel better and shit and then she attacked me!”

 

Dean yelled something along the lines of _what the fuck_ through a large mouthful of pie, making Castiel smile at his dorkiness.

 

“She was all like ‘ _You’re only talking to him because you want to get together with him’_ and ‘ _you’ve been waiting for them to break up so you could hook up with him_ ’” Charlie yelled.

 

“Bullshit, you like pussy!” Dean yelled back.

 

“That’s what I said!”

 

“Who exactly are you guys talking about?” Castiel interjected.

 

“Lisa,” Dean answered.

 

“Lisa Braeden,” Charlie continued.

 

“You dated Lisa Braeden?” Castiel asked, taking a bite of pie.

 

“I dated her for like a month early freshman year,” Dean said, “She was a lot to deal with.”

 

“That’s a goddamn understatement,” Charlie turned to Castiel, “She was the fucking devil.”

 

Castiel chuckled, “No, I know, I’ve had to deal with her before. At parties, Gabriel used to hang around her a lot. She’s, uh, very angry.”

 

“Anyways, she didn’t apologize and then said that I was lying about being a lesbian, and I’m still like _Bitch, I have a goddamn girlfriend_ ,” Charlie added.

 

“Sounds like her normal bullshit, I wouldn’t take it to heart. It’s just because she’s friends with Ruby and Ruby is getting a lot of shit from people,” Dean said, taking another bite of pie. He looked over at the blood on the carpet again, he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

 

Castiel, of course, noticed his distress, and nudged him affectionately, giving him a concerned look. Dean brushed it off, smiling faintly at Cas.

 

“Anyways, are you guys going to that party at Benny’s on Friday?”

 

“Uh, yeah, actually,” Dean replied.

 

Charlie almost choked on her food, “Oh my god, seriously?” Dean nodded, “You guys have been together, what a couple days? And you’re already getting him out of the house, good job.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so bad at writing smut, which is ironic considering how much of it I read. Anyways, thanks for reading and I'm sorry this is such a boring chapter, I swear to god the next chapter is much more fun. It's gonna have to party and stuff. Please leave kudos if you haven't already and comment if you have any questions or concerns or whatever!


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas and Dean go to Benny's party. Meg brings a gossip-worthy guest and learns a couple things about Dean. We learn some curious new information about Mary Winchester's past, and Gabriel offers Dean a job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been gone for the past couple months, I've been really busy. I hope you guys like this chapter, I liked how it turned out.

Castiel grinned at Dean, grabbing him by the hip to pull him in for a passionate kiss.

 

“Jesus, Cas, I haven’t even invited you inside yet.” Dean stepped to the side to let Castiel in.

 

“You look great,” Cas explained, running one hand through his hair.

 

Dean gave him a questioning look, closing the door behind him.

 

Castiel had changed his hair; now a soft-green, almost mint color that made his eyes stand out. Of course, Castiel’s eyes always stood out: those beautiful ocean blue eyes always caught Dean’s attention.

 

“You changed your hair,” he stated, almost as if it was a question. Castiel’s whole ‘punk’ thing was really _doing it_ for Dean this fine evening, and he was currently debating if they should even go to this stupid party. He would probably have more _fun_ home alone with Cas than he would at the party anyway.

 

Cas laughed. “Yes. I do that every now and then. What, do you not like it?” he asked, eyebrows furrowed.

 

“No! No, I like it! It’s just… different, that’s all,” Dean shrugged and leaned in to kiss him again, “...and kinda hot.”

 

His grin reappeared. “You know, we could skip this thing if you wanted,” he whispered into Dean’s ear, backing him against the wall. Dean’s fingers laced through Castiel’s hair and he pulled him down for another quick kiss.

 

Internally, he cursed at himself for being such a girl about Castiel: the hugging and kissing and all that bullshit really wasn’t ever really his thing. But every time Cas walked into the same room as him he had to refrain from kissing him or cuddling him because _god dammit he just likes him so much._

 

“Charlie would kill us if we skipped,” Dean argued.

 

“Us?”

 

“Well, me, at least.”

 

“Do you want to get going, it’s almost nine,” Cas asked, pulling keys from his pocket.

 

“Ugh, yeah.” Dean reluctantly followed him out to the Camaro.

 

\-------

 

From the outside, Benny Lafitte’s house looked calm, quiet even, among the other houses of the suburbs. The porch was only occupied by a few teenagers chatting as they smoked, one of them happened to be Jo.

 

“Novak! Right in time, our dear friend, Meg, just showed up with the good booze,” she shouted from the porch. She was clearly already at least buzzed.

 

Castiel grabbed Dean’s hand, taking the lead. He dragged Dean up to the porch.

 

“I just remembered that I hate people, can we go?” Dean asked Castiel quietly.

 

“You’ll be fine,” he reassured. “Want to smoke first?” Castiel held out a box of Marlboro Black 100’s and a couple of plastic tubes containing dispensary-grade joints.

 

Dean grabbed one of the tubes and Castiel handed him a lighter.

 

They walked over to Jo, and Dean’s nerves calmed as the weed took effect.

 

“How’re you guys doing on this fine evening?” she asked cheerfully, smile shining brightly even under the dimly lit porch.

 

Dean took a rather large hit and handed the joint to Castiel, smoke pouring from his lips as he does.

 

“That good, huh?” She laughs.

 

“I’m feeling pretty good now,” Dean responds, giving Jo a smile.

 

“Oooh! You know what else Meg brought?” Jo’s voice quiets and she takes a step closer to them.

 

They lean in to listen, both mildly interested in what the girl has to say.

 

“Sebastian.”

 

Dean gasped and then smiled.

 

“Honestly, I ship it. Does Charlie know?” He asked.

 

“No, I just saw them walking in a minute ago,” she took a swig of something out of a small, black flask.

 

“Do you know where she is?”

 

“Uh, last time I saw her she was talking to Benny in the kitchen.”

 

Castiel handed the joint to Jo and pulled Dean’s hand as he walked to the front door.

 

“Thanks Jo, see you later,” Dean said as he followed the young punk into the house.

 

The inside, unlike the porch, was… chaotic. No more so than a normal high school party but nonetheless, chaotic.

 

Dean dodged loud, drunken teenagers as he walked down the hall. Castiel seemed utterly unaffected by the blaring classic rock and yelling that surrounded them. Dean now regretted declining to stay at home.

 

They found Charlie sitting on the counter in the kitchen talking to Meg and Sebastian.

 

“Dean!” Charlie squealed, scaring the couple across from her.

 

Meg glanced at Dean and smiled, then at Castiel.

 

“Clarence, sweetheart, you went out and got yourself a sexy little twink without telling me?” She gave an evil grin.

 

Dean cursed at the name but immediately recognized the mischievous little smile that appeared on Castiel’s face. He must have learned that from Meg.

 

“And you didn’t tell me you decided to start fucking Sebastian Hansen. Scandalous!” He kissed Meg on the cheek, and Dean tried to not be jealous even though he knew he had nothing to worry about. Following that, Castiel shook Sebastian's hand, and they traded brief greetings.

 

Dean glances at Meg and Sebastian together and then gives Charlie a look. One that Charlie immediately recognizes and nods furiously. _They have so much to gossip about._

 

“Oh my god this party was a horrible idea, who talked me into this?” Someone yelled from behind Dean. Castiel grabbed his hip and pulled him to the side to let Benny through.

 

“I believe it was Jo that talked you into all this,” Cas commented and Benny let out a loud groan.

 

“Gabriel found an empty room,” Meg announced, looking up from her phone, “Shall we take this upstairs?”

 

“My Gabriel? My brother is here?” Cas asked, firmly gripping Dean’s hand.

 

“Of course he’s here. The entire high school showed up for this party. Appropriate _clientele_ for his _business_.

 

Castiel smiled, “Of course.”

 

\-------

 

The empty room ended up being Benny’s parent’s master bedroom. It was large and tidy and the king sized bed was made up with a soft blue comforter.

 

“Don’t fuck anything up,” Benny announced as they trickled into the room.

 

Gabriel’s head shot up at the statement and his eyes landed on Dean.

 

“Just the twink I wanted to see!” And of course Gabriel was going to be a dick. “How’s the broken face?”

 

Cas squeezed Dean’s hand, but the reminder of his father abuse didn’t really bother him anymore. He just wanted to heal properly and have it be over with.

 

“Still hurts, getting better,” he replied, leaning back against Cas as they took a seat on the base carpet.

 

“Yeah what happened to your face anyway?” Jo asked as she walked into the room.

 

Both Charlie and Castiel froze and looked at Dean.

 

“Biffed it on some cement while playing football with Sammy, broke my nose,” Dean replied, coming up with a lie in record time. Along with training and gun practice, his father had also taught him how to lie, which meant he could come up with an excuse for constant new wounds that appeared. It also meant he couldn’t lie to his father without him finding out, but Dean managed.

 

Jo’s eyebrows shot up, “Did it hurt?”

 

Dean chuckled softly, “Uh, yeah. But it’s fine, I’ve been pretty… medicated the whole week.”

 

Meg handed Castiel a bottle of Jameson and winked at him.

 

“Got the good stuff for ya, Clarence,” she added.

 

At first Cas and Meg just seemed to be really good friends, but to Dean, it looked like they were _really good_ friends. Dean gave Castiel a questioning look.

 

“I’ll explain later,” is all Castiel whispered in Dean’s ear as she walked away. He grabbed one of Dean’s knees, “Babe relax,” he started, leaning in to kiss Dean’s jaw, “I can assure you, I am _very_ gay.”

 

“I’m not worried about it,” Dean huffed. He knew Castiel could see right through him. _Stop being so paranoid,_ he thought to himself.

 

Cas grinned at him and opened the bottle of whiskey, taking a long swig of it and then handing it to him. Dean did just the same.

 

It took about a half an hour for all of them to become at least moderately buzzed. They were joking and laughing with each other, Charlie was talking to Dean and Cas, Meg was telling a story across the room, and Jo (bless her drunk ass) was trying to figure out how to hook up Bluetooth through her phone so they could listen to music. It wasn’t working out very well.

 

“You’ve never seen Star Trek!?” Charlie shrieks.

 

“Space and aliens and stuff isn’t really my thing. I usually lean more towards crime stuff - Tarantino movies - stuff like that,” Castiel explained. Charlie and Dean continued to give him incredulous stares.

 

“Look nobody’s denying that Tarantino’s a God, but seriously? Not the show, not the movies, not even the animated series? Ever?” Dean asked. Castiel shook his head and Dean whispered something about a mandatory movie night.

 

“All right, I’m getting bored,” came an announcement. Dean’s eyes landed on Meg, who was holding a bottle of tequila and standing in the middle of the room. She gave Dean an evil grin, “Let’s play a game.”

 

“Oh my god, Truth or Dare!” Charlie squealed. She was a happy drunk, Dean had figured that out early in their friendship.

 

“Just what I was thinking,” Meg confirmed.

 

Dean groaned, “God, how old are we? Truth or Dare, really?”

 

Charlie hit his arm, “Yes, really. We’re doing this, don’t be a grumpy little shit about it.”

 

“Okay, okay, fine,” he laughed.

 

“I have two things to say!” Jo suddenly shouted, “One, I got the, uh, shit - what is this thing called? Bluetooth! I got the Bluetooth hooked up to the speaker, so what do you people want to listen to?”

 

They yelled different bands and artists at her, but eventually, they all agreed upon listening to some Sublime.

 

“Two, uh, oh! You guys got like an hour before I pass the fuck out so I wanna go first if we’re really doin’ this truth or dare thing.”

 

“We have a volunteer!” Meg was introduced into the conversation yet again, “Truth or Dare, hun?”

 

“I’m gonna regret this, uh, dare,” she answered.

 

Charlie chimed in with a loud shout, “Nah, I got this. I dare you to kiss _anyone_ in the room, but you have to walk to them.”

 

“That’s easy,” Jo said as she began to walk towards Charlie. Stumbling, she slowly made her way over Charlie and leaned down to kiss her. Which turned into a full-on make-out session.

 

Pulling away, Jo laughed, “That was a lot harder than I thought it would be.”

 

“What, kissing me?” Charlie asked.

 

“No, walking,” Jo replied, giving Charlie another peck on the lips. “Novak Jr! You’re next, Truth or Dare?”

 

Castiel grumbled something about the name, but sat up against the wall and answered anyway, “Truth.”

 

“What a bitch!” Gabriel shouted from the corner, giving Castiel one of those brotherly, shit-eating grins he knows he gives Sam on the daily.

 

“Fuck off, Gabe. I’m comfortable,” Castiel replied, not wanting to get up to do a dare. He was content sitting there with one arm wrapped around Dean, and a bottle of whiskey in his hand. “And kind of drunk.”

 

“Alright, alright, settle down,” Jo said, pulling away from Charlie’s grip, “Castiel, what’s the craziest thing you’ve done naked?”

 

Cas chuckled, “On Wednesday, I was over at Dean’s, and we were in th-”

 

“You _can’t_ tell them about _that_!” Dean suddenly shrieked into Cas’ ear, eyes wide, giving him a pleading look. The room roared with laughter.

 

“You _have_ to tell us now,” Charlie insisted.

 

“No, nope, absolutely not,” Dean faught.

 

“Ok, ok, I’ll tell an equally interesting story about something crazy I did naked, now listen up,” Castiel started.

 

\-------

 

“ _Castiel._ ”

 

“That was a fucking _wild_.”

 

“Yeah, imagine my shock when he came home high as fuck, covered in strawberry syrup and dirt,” Gabriel chimed in from the corner of the room.

 

“Honestly, brother,” Benny laughed, “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at you the same.”

 

“I can’t imagine what you guys could have done in bed that could top this story,” Charlie commented.

 

Dean and Cas laughed and looked at each other.

 

“You, uh… don’t want to know,” Dean said quietly.

 

“Novak, pick someone.”

 

Castiel called to Benny, and Benny picked dare. The next half an hour consisted of Benny trying to get his clothes off, and all of them trying to make their way downstairs so they could watch Benny jump into the pool naked. Which went poorly because he was drunk, and so he just ended up falling into the pool, one sock on and screaming about politics.

 

Benny dared Meg to sing all of _Bad Romance_ at the top of her lungs in the middle of the living room, with the entire high school watching her. And she did. And it was great. Dean had to admit the girl had a great voice. Still thought she was kind of a bitch though.

 

Besides Dean and Cas, the only people to make it back to the room was Gabe, Meg, and Sebastian. Benny was talking to a girl downstairs, and Jo was passed out on top of Charlie in Benny’s room.

 

Gabriel closed the door behind him, “Whose turn is it? Meg, I think we left off on you?”

 

“Ah yes,” she glanced around, eyes landing on Dean, “Truth or Dare, hun.”

 

“Truth,” Dean replied.

 

“Hmm,” she pondered for a moment. “How ‘bout you tell me what really happened to that pretty face of yours?”

 

Dean’s heart beat loudly in his chest and he shifted uncomfortably on the floor.

 

“That’s what I thought.” Her eyes kept fixed on Dean, like she was reading him, “I can help you, you know.”

 

“Meg, don’t be a dick,” Cas barked back.

 

“Fuck this,” Dean said, standing up and walking out of the room, only stumbling a little.

 

Castiel followed Dean down the hall, calling his name. He stormed outside, not really knowing where he was going, but just following the feeling that he needed to _get out of the house_.

 

“Dean! Jesus Christ, you’re fast,” Cas caught up to him on the steps of the porch. There were no longer people smoking out there, leaving the two of them alone.

 

“What the fuck is her problem?” Dean demanded.

 

“She, uh,” he took a deep breath, “Meg’s a good person-”

 

“She’s a bitch.”

 

“I’ve mentioned a time or two that my parents are religious assholes, have I not?” Dean nodded. “Yeah, well when they found out I was gay, when I told Naomi, they kicked me out of the house.”

 

Dean stared at him, not sure what to say.

 

“I'm sorry, Cas. Parents are assholes.”

 

“Yeah, they are. I met Meg at the beginning of freshman year. She took me in. I lived with her for three months until Gabriel threatened to call CPS on Naomi. CPS would have made her look bad while she was campaigning, so she didn’t have any other option but to let me come back.” Cas grabbed Dean’s hand, “Meg’s nice, I promise, she's just… a lot.”

 

“And a bitch,” Dean added.

 

“Yeah, she's also kind of a bitch.” Cas agreed.

 

“Ouch, Clarence.” Meg stood behind them, arms crossed and sassy smirk plastered on her face.

 

“You are and you know it.” Cas smiled awkwardly at her.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Now leave.” Meg shooed him back into the house.

 

“Meg-”

 

“I'm just gonna talk to your boy-toy for a sec, don't worry, I'll be gentle.” She effectively pushed him back into the house despite his protests.

 

“Whatever kind of bullshit you think you know, you don’t,” is the first thing that comes out of Dean’s mouth.

 

“Hun, I know a lot more than you think,” she pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket and sat down on the bench pushed back against the wall. She patted the seat next to her and looked at him expectantly. He shrugged and sat down. “Your father - John Winchester - is an asshole. My mother isn’t a fan - she works at the Roadhouse.”

 

“Look I’m sorry my father’s a dick to-”

 

“Don’t apologize for him, Dean. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what he does to you. He leaves that bar raging almost every night he’s in town, and you show up to school looking like you just walked out of fight club.”

 

Dean’s hands were shaking, his heart racing as he fought to come up with _something_ to say. He didn’t want to go through this again: the conversation he had with Cas about John was uncomfortable enough, he didn’t want to talk about it with a virtual stranger. It was also kind of pissing him off that Meg was acting like this was common gossip, like John constantly beating the shit out of him was his _dirty little secret_.

 

“It’s none of your fucking business,” he said, because _what the fuck else was he suppose to say._

 

“No, it’s not. But I’m making it my business.”

 

“Why do you care?”

 

“Because I care about Castiel, and he cares about you. And I like you, kid. You’re alright.” Smoke fled her lips as she talked, “But mostly, the reason I’m talking to you is because my mother asked me to.”

 

He gave her an incredulous look.

 

“She used to be friends with your mom.”

 

“What?”

 

And that was definitely something he did _not_ want to talk about.

 

“I’m not going to give you the whole rundown of how they met or whatever because I have a very drunk, very whiny teenager in the back of my car that I need to take home. But I will say this: If you ever need a place to stay, you’re always welcome to stay with me.”

 

“Why would open your house to me?” Dean asked, none of what Meg was saying really made sense to him. Why would Meg Masters of all people be offering him a place to stay?

 

“Because I’ve been there,” she said nonchalantly, flicking the ash off her cigarette, “I as well have been gifted with enough daddy issues to last a lifetime."

 

They sat in silence for a minute.

 

"All that anger and defiance you’re harboring against your father,” Dean shook his head. “- the feelings that you’re apparently in denial about - are gonna come out in one way or another. You’ll break eventually, Dean, I can see it in your eyes. One of these days you’re going to blow up in John’s face, and when you do? My door’s open.”

 

She grabbed Dean’s phone off of the table in front of them and he almost protested. She typed some things into it before setting it back down onto the table.

 

“I have to go,” she said, standing up and grabbing her own phone off the table. “My number’s in your phone.”

 

Dean nodded, still confused about her intentions, and probably a little too drunk to have had this conversation. He watched as she left, Sebastian waving giddily from the backseat, and walked back into the house to find Castiel.

 

When he did, Castiel was nursing a cup of coffee, talking to Gabriel in a hushed voice just beside the dining room. Gabriel nudged Castiel’s arm and pointed towards Dean, who was walking towards them, giving them an awkward smile.

 

“Dean-o!” Gabe called, “I want to talk to you.”

 

Dean groaned, “Oh God, why?”

 

“I take it that wasn’t a fun talk with Meg?” Castiel asked, looking concerned.

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Dean quickly dismissed the topic. “What can I help you with, Gabe?”

 

“My dear brother here is constantly complaining that you work too much,” Castiel blushed at the statement. “Could I interest you in a job?”

 

“I already have two jobs-

 

“A high-paying job, you could quit one or both of your other jobs.”

 

“What kind of job are we talkin’ here?” High-paying? Dean was interested.

 

“Gabe I don’t think-” Cas tried to interject.

 

“Don’t worry about it, Cassie. He’s perfect for it,” Gabriel insisted. “Dean, you’re aware of what my business is. I want to offer you that same job. Work for me! I’m trying to expand, and I need another partner in crime, literally!”

 

“Just weed?” Dean asked.

 

Gabe nodded.

 

“Talk to me about it when I’m not drunk. I’m interested.” Dean looked at Cas, “Are you sober enough to drive?”

 

“Um… no. Not at all,” Cas replied. Dean laughed at Cas’ serious tone.

 

“But I am!” Gabriel singsonged, grabbing Castiel’s keys from his hands.

 

“Did you not bring your own car? Who drove you here?” Cas asked curiously.

 

“I came with the lesbians,” Gabriel replied as they walked down the hall, “I was at the Jo’s so they gave me a ride.”

 

“Why were you at Jo’s?”

 

“I was hanging out with Ellen, duh.”

 

“Oh, right, I forgot you had a weird thing about moms,” Cas commented.

 

“I don’t have a thing for moms! I just happen to be really fond of Ellen and Mama Masters. They’re so badass, I’m just drawn to them!”

 

“Yeah, no, it just sounds like you have a thing for moms,” Cas laughed.

 

“Mama Masters?” Dean questioned.

 

“Meg’s mother, she works with Ellen. She’s probably the most interesting person you’ll ever meet in your entire life,” Gabe explained.

 

Meg’s mom used to be friends with his mom. Dean started to think about that: how could she have been friends with his mother? Mary had never lived here, she spent her entire life in Lawrence.

 

He made a mental note to talk to Bobby and continued following Gabriel down the hallway and out to the car.

 

By the time they got back to the Novak mansion, it was 2:30 in the morning. They made their way to Castiel’s room, and Dean came to the conclusion that he was exhausted.

 

“Sleep?” Cas asked as he pulled his shirt off. The pants came off next, and he tried to balance on wobbly, drunk feet as he stepped out of each pant-leg.

 

“Yes.” Dean agreed firmly, awkwardly shedding his clothes as well, and climbing into Castiel’s soft, fluffy bed.

 

Cas followed him in, snuggling up behind him.

 

“Do you, uh,” Cas cleared his voice, “...want to talk? Or something?”

 

“All I want to do right now is sleep,” Dean answered.

 

“Okay, I can get on board with that,” Cas agreed.

 

Dean drifted into a deep sleep within minutes, Castiel wrapped firmly against him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me sixteen-year-old sassy twink Dean Winchester wouldn't love gossiping about people with Charlie. If there are any inconsistencies with the story, please let me know. It's been a couple of months since I have read the other chapters (and I probably should have refreshed before writing this one) so I might have forgotten details. We're getting into actual plot now, Yay! As we get more into the story, I'll try to refine how I portray the characters, and make their behaviors/what they say more realistic, and add character development and all that fun stuff. As always, thank you for reading. Comments and Kudos are appreciated! I'll try my best to update more often.


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